Jar Coffin Tomb Cluster

　　  In June 1983, when villagers from Houbaizi Village, Beitang Township, Jimusa’er County, were constructing houses on residential plots designated by their production team, they discovered three jar coffin clusters buried 50 centimeters beneath the surface.

　　  Among them, two jar coffins stood 65 cm and 30 cm tall respectively, with mouth diameters of 25 cm and 30 cm. Made of gray pottery with a clay body, their bodies featured net-like patterns. Research suggests that this tomb cluster belonged to Turkic burials from the Sui and Tang dynasties.

　　  Historical records indicate that during the late Sui and early Tang periods, the main group active north of Bogda was the Western Turks. In the fourth year of the Zhenguan era, after the defeat of the Turkic Khan Jiali, Fu-tu City became a frontier stronghold in opposition to the Tang Dynasty. The earliest Turkic incursions into Central Asia began in the 560s of the 6th century, and throughout the long course of history, the area centered around Fu-tu City served as a base for generations of nomadic herding, farming, and settlement. The Turks primarily worshipped fire, revered air and water, extolled the earth, and regarded only heaven as the supreme creator deity, offering sacrifices of horses, cattle, and sheep.

　　  Before the spread of Islam in Central Asia, not only Zoroastrianism and Buddhism coexisted, but Manichaeism and Christianity also held certain significance, though Zoroastrianism was the most prominent.

　　  The practice of jar coffin burial was associated with Zoroastrian funeral customs. Jar coffins first appeared around the 2nd century BCE, and the formation of this ritual was mainly the result of the merging of two Iranian tribal burial rites—inhumation and river cremation.

　　  During the Turkic era, notable changes occurred in the jar coffin burial custom. A type of tent-style jar coffin emerged, with decorations mimicking the patterns found on shepherds' tents and perforations on the upper walls of the jars symbolizing the wooden frames of tents. As a result, what had previously reflected only Central Asian traditions now took on the distinctive character of Turkic nomadic life.