Tomb No. 5 of "Xiaohe"

Tomb No. 5 of "Xiaohe"

Tomb No. 5 of "Xiaohe" is a cultural tourism attraction.

Tomb No. 5 of "Xiaohe" is believed to be an early burial site of the Loulan people and a place where religious ceremonies were held. It is located near a southeastward-oriented dry riverbed called "Xiaohe" in the Lop Desert, north of Alagan. Locals refer to it as the "Cemetery of a Thousand Coffins." The site sits atop a small sand dune, where hundreds of four-meter-tall wooden poles stand. The cemetery is scattered with hundreds or even thousands of boat-shaped coffin boards, along with massive "paddles" and phallic wooden totems. The upright wooden poles that have never been covered by sand still show bright red pigment, indicating that all the wooden pillars in the entire burial area were originally painted red. The hair of the exposed female mummies is golden, with deep-set eyes and high eyebrows, showing Indo-European features. Around the tomb of a female in the eastern part, there are many patterned wooden boards and a large number of cattle skulls, with a semicircle formed by wooden posts opposite to it. All facilities in the cemetery face this female tomb. The site also features wooden fences that divide the area, along with life-sized male and female wooden figurines, the majority of which are female. This reflects that the society at the time may have been in a matrilineal clan stage. The presence of wooden phallic totems on the tombs indicates male worship, suggesting that in its later period, the society might have been transitioning from a matrilineal to a patrilineal clan society. Such a large-scale cemetery has not revealed any other major human activity sites in the surrounding area, which adds to the mystery of Tomb No. 5 of "Xiaohe."