A Brush With Genius
Archaeology|January/February 2022
An unprecedented find in central China brings to life the early years of a master calligrapher
By Ling Xin
A Brush With Genius

IN THE VILLAGE OF GONGDONG outside the central Chinese city of Xi’an, construction projects have kept archaeologists busy since the summer of 2020. Thus far, more than 100 ancient tombs have been uncovered in the area, some dating to as early as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220). Last June, a team of archaeologists from the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology unearthed a large Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–906) family tomb at Gongdong. Classical Chinese culture flourished during the Tang Dynasty, and elite tombs dating to that period are known for their intricate stone- and brickwork and are often filled with numerous artifacts. The newly discovered tomb, belonging to a military commander named Yuan Daqian and his wife, Luo Wanshun, was no different. Archaeologists found more than 100 ceramic vessels and figurines in the multichambered tomb, despite the fact that tomb raiders had looted it in antiquity.

Tang Dynasty ca. A.D. 700

One discovery stood out from the rest. In elite Chinese tombs, archaeologists often find square funerary stones, referred to as epitaphs, that are inscribed with ornate calligraphy that relates the accomplishments of the dead at length. The epitaphs are accompanied by stone plaques known as epitaph covers bearing brief descriptions of the tomb’s occupant. Epitaph covers and epitaphs were typically wrapped together in silk and placed near the front entrance to the main room of tombs, where the dead were interred—but in this tomb they had been pushed aside. “When we entered the couple’s tomb, we saw that the epitaphs and epitaph covers had been displaced by tomb raiders,” says Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology scholar Zhang Yanglizheng.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January/February 2022 من Archaeology.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January/February 2022 من Archaeology.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من ARCHAEOLOGY مشاهدة الكل
Digs & Discoveries - A Friend For Hercules - Archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.
Archaeology

Digs & Discoveries - A Friend For Hercules - Archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.

While digging at the crossroads of the two main streets in the ancient city of Philippi in northern Greece, archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
Digs & Discoveries - A Fortress Sanctuary - A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.
Archaeology

Digs & Discoveries - A Fortress Sanctuary - A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.

A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
Like Cats And Dogs – Archeologist fund the skeleton of a male Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), a notoriously shy creature.
Archaeology

Like Cats And Dogs – Archeologist fund the skeleton of a male Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), a notoriously shy creature.

Оn the periphery of Zamárdi, an ancient lakeshore settlement in west-central Hungary, archaeologists uncovered a nearly five-foot-deep beehive-shaped pit with the skeletons of four adult dogs buried in successive shallow layers.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
A Dynasty Born In Fire- How an upstart Maya king forged a new social order amid chaos
Archaeology

A Dynasty Born In Fire- How an upstart Maya king forged a new social order amid chaos

At the beginning of the Terminal Classic period (ca. A.D. 810-1000), many of the great kingdoms of the southern Maya lowlands-among them Tikal, Palenque, and Calakmul-were being abandoned or collapsing. For many years, scholars have assumed that most, if not all, the other kingdoms across the Maya world must have also been in steep decline.

time-read
10 mins  |
July/August 2024
Medical Malfeasance - Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy.
Archaeology

Medical Malfeasance - Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy.

Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy. Starting in 1847, medical students were required to have practical experience studying human anatomy, but legal options to procure cadavers were limited

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
RISE AND FALL OF TIWANAKU
Archaeology

RISE AND FALL OF TIWANAKU

New dating techniques are unraveling the mystery of a sacred Andean city

time-read
10 mins  |
July/August 2024
Making a Roman Emperor
Archaeology

Making a Roman Emperor

A newly discovered monumental arch in Serbia reveals a family's rise to power in the late second century A.D.

time-read
10 mins  |
July/August 2024
The Assyrian Renaissance
Archaeology

The Assyrian Renaissance

Archaeologists return to Nineveh in northern Iraq, one of the ancient world's grandest imperial capitals

time-read
10+ mins  |
July/August 2024
Java's Megalithic Mountain
Archaeology

Java's Megalithic Mountain

Across the Indonesian archipelago, people raised immense stones to honor their ancestors

time-read
8 mins  |
July/August 2024
THE SONG IN THE STONE
Archaeology

THE SONG IN THE STONE

Located in a desert gorge in southern Peru, Toro Muerto is one of the richest rock art sites in South America. It includes at least 2,600 boulders bearing petroglyphs, many featuring figures known as danzantes who appear to be dancing.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024