preserved parts of the frescoes, acharacter image on the

lower wall and an astrological chart on the roof can be seen.

Archaeologists also found more than 220 objects including

painted pottery, lacquer wood, stone, bronze, gold and silver

objects. A stone epitaph with the inscriptions of "The Epitaph

of the Ruler of Murong of the Wu Zhou Period” was unearthed

in the middle of the chamber passage. The discovery of the

tomb has played an important supplementary role in improv -

ing the royal family tree of late period Tuyuhun and related

historical issues.

Expert comments: This tomb was the earliest and most complete

tomb of the Tuyuhun family discovered and excavated in

Wuwei region, which was also rare in C hina and w as an

important discovery of archaeology research on the Tuyuhun

tomb. The discovery of this tomb will help the studies of burial

customs of Tuyuhun, the relationship between the Tang and Tuyuhun, the history of traffic on the Silk Road and the history

of material culture.

2018 Xuewei No. 1 Tomb: discovery of complete

cemetery building refreshing cognition of

Reshui tombs

The tombs of Reshui located in R eshui Township, Dulan

County, Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,

Qinghai, were the important tombs in the 6th to 8th centuries.

Since its discovery in 1982, a series of important archeology

discoveries have fully proved that this area was an important

node on the Silk Road.

2018 Xuewei No. 1 Tomb, with a large scale and complete

structure, was the most well-preserved and clearly structured

tomb among the high-standard tombs found on the Qinghai

Tibetan Plateau so far. A complete graveyard architecture was

found in Reshui tombs for the first time. A large number of cultural

relics have been unearthed, including Tibetan document wooden

slips, gold and silver belts, ornaments, silk textiles, leather ,

lacquer ware, turquoise, crystal and so on. The large scale and

the high grade of this tomb reflects the high political status and

economic strength of the owner of the tomb.

Expert comments: The discovery of the burial architecture in 2018

Xuewei No. 1 Tomb was an important material for the study of

high-grade burial system and customs of Reshui tombs, and a

new breakthrough and progress in the study of Reshui tombs.

Quangou No. 1 Tomb: Exquisite murals and gilt

crown showing the political and cultural exchanges

between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty in

the central China.

Quangou Tomb is located in the valley area around Quangou,

Hedong Village, Xiligou Town, Wulan County, Qinghai Province,

which was a new discovery at the third national survey of cultural

heritage in Qinghai Province.

Quangou No. 1 Tomb is a multi-chamber tomb shaped as a rectangular

brick-wood mixed structure with a passage. Archaeology excavations showed that this tomb was the first Tubo mural tomb

found on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Mural tombs were very popular

in the Han culture area, but they were extremely rare in th e

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, especially during the Tubo ruling period.

This type of tomb decoration was not popular , showing the

uniqueness of the tomb. The painting technique had a strong

influence of the Tang style, and the image also had the characteristics

of the nomadic people of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which

had a high historical value and artistic value.

The painted lacquer coffin in the tomb was a unique form of burial

decoration found on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for the first time.

Painted wooden coffins were more common in Qinghai, while

coffins without painting were more common in the Central Plains.

This was also a fusion of different cultures in the two regions. Due

to the limitations of lacquer making technology and raw materials,

it was extremely dif ficult to make large lacquer wares at the

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which also implied that the tomb had an

extraordinary level.

Inside the tomb was a sealed dark grid where the gilt crown was

placed. The crown showed that the owner of the tomb was likely

to have a close relationship with the local royal family during the

Tubo period and once had a very high dominance. It can also be

inferred that during the Tubo period, high-level administrative and

military institutions may have been set up in the northern margin

of the Qaidam Basin.

Based on the characteristics of the excavations and the style

of the mural, it can be inferred that the tomb was of the Tubo

period, and the carbon 14 dating showed that it was around

700 AD. The rich accumulation of wealth and the height of

civilization during the period of Tuyuhun and Tubo rule, as

well as the continuous cultural input from the Tang Dynasty

and Central Asia, had an important influence on the formation

of multi-ethnic culture in Qinghai.

Expert comments: The discovery of the Quangou No. 1 tomb

had great academic value for exploring the process of ancient

Han-Tibetan cultural integration and the cultural exchanges of

the Qinghai Silk Road..

Keyak Khduk Beacon Tower in Xinjiang: documents

and wooden slips vividly interpreted the

management and military defense system of

the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty

The site of the ancient beacon tower of Yuli County, Xinjiang

was one of the beacon tow ers in the Peacock River, which

consists of 11 beacon towers.

According to the excavation discovories, the site named

Keyak Khduk was built on a large dune strengthend by tamarisk.

It was a comprehensive structure and complete military

facility site consisting of the body of beacon tower, residential

buildings and other buildings.

The unearthed relics and carbon 14 dating indicated that the

site was built in the Tang Dynasty. Archeologists initially

believed that Keyak Khduk Beacon Tower was a military facility

of Yanqi Town, one of the four garrison towns of Anxi, which was built to prevent the invasion of Tubo.

Under the southern slope of the dune, a "garbage dump"

remain was found, containing various types of living r elics,

including 633 precious paper documents and wooden slips.

The military documents between the frontier military unit and

the beacon towers and the superior management agencies

recorded in detail the names of military facilities at all levels

related to beacon towers along the P eacock River. The

unearthed wooden slips were kept intact, with clear handwritings,

and the content mainly recorded the account books and

the system of the “all clear”(ping’an) signal in the morning and

at nightfall between the unit and the beacon towers. This was

the first archaeological discovery in China.

Expert Comments: The various documents and wooden slips

unearthed from the Keyak Khduk Site had filled the gap in the

historical literature on the defense system of Yanqi Town, one

of the four garrison tow ns in Anxi in the Tang Dynasty. It

played a very important role in unders tanding all aspects of

military, political, economic, cultural and social life in the Tang

Dynasty, and was also of great significance to demonstrate

the effective governance and jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty

to the Western Region, and the cultural identity of the Western

Region to the central government.