Ancient Tombs Suburb of Yunmeng

Ancient Tombs Suburb of Yunmeng

The ancient tombs suburb of Yunmeng is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Hubei Province and also part of a national forest park.

Ancient Tombs Suburb of Yunmeng

Located in the southeast and southwest suburbs of Chengguan Town, Yunmeng County, this is a cluster of Eastern Zhou to Han dynasty tombs. It is made up of five smaller tomb groups: Zhenzhu Slope Tomb Group, Longgang Tomb Group, Muzhuanfen Tomb Group, Shuihudi Tomb Group, and Dafentou Tomb Group. The Zhenzhu Slope and Longgang tomb groups are located in the southeast suburbs, while the Muzhuanfen, Shuihudi, and Dafentou tomb groups are distributed from north to south in the southwest suburbs. The Zhenzhu Slope Tomb Group covers an area of about 70,000 square meters. Eighteen small rectangular earthen pit tombs were excavated here, including 16 from the Eastern Zhou period and 2 from the Qin and Han dynasties. Eastern Zhou tombs yielded items such as imitation bronze pottery tripods, painted lidded pottery dou vessels, painted pottery hu vases, painted pottery small-mouthed ding vessels, and wooden carvings of reclining deer and standing birds. Artifacts from the Qin and Han tombs include pottery fu cauldrons, urns, bronze mirrors, horn ornaments, and ironware fragments. The Muzhuanfen Tomb Group spans approximately 40,000 square meters. In 1975, two earthen pit wooden-chambered tombs were excavated. The unearthed pottery items included ding tripods, hu vases, urns, fu cauldrons, jars, mou vessels, and bowls; copper items included mou vessels; lacquerware items included flat hu vases, ear cups, round boxes, and zhī cups, some of which bore stamped characters like “Ting” and “San”; wooden items included ear cups and combs. The Shuihudi Tomb Group covers an area of about 120,000 square meters. From 1975 to 1978, 50 tombs were excavated in three phases. Most are single-chambered, single-coffined vertical pit tombs oriented north-south. Artifacts unearthed include those made of bronze, iron, pottery, lacquered wood, silk, jade, and bamboo, among which Tomb M yielded Qin bamboo slips. The Dafentou Tomb Group spans around 5,000 square meters. In 1972, three earthen pit wooden-chambered tombs were excavated, yielding artifacts such as those made of copper, lacquered wood, bamboo, pottery, porcelain, and jade. (Second Batch)

Source: Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units