Integrated characterization of ancient burial mounds using ERT and limited drillings at the Hepu Han Tombs, in coastal area of Southern China

Abstract

The Hepu Han Tombs, located on the south coast of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in southern China, bordering the Beibu Gulf, can date back to the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), when Hepu was an important international trade port of the maritime Silk Road, spreading strong and persistent cultural influence to neighboring countries from ancient China, and also connecting China with African, European and other Asian countries in national migration, religious communication, political, trade, technical and cultural exchanges, and so on. The research of the Hepu Han Tombs can offer opportunities to understand the burial customs and the Han culture in the Chinese Han Dynasty. With the aim of detecting the location, depth and geometry of two burial mounds at Jinjiling Site of Hepu Han Tombs, an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey was performed in cooperation with archaeological team to calibrate the results with detailed information from the limited drillings in the area. Besides, series of 2-D ERT sections, acquired above the larger mound, were combined into a “Pseudo 3-D” volume, and iso-resistivity surfaces were further calculated to emphasize the location and lateral variations within the data volume, expected towards a more detailed and quantitative interpretation. Both the 2-D and 3-D resistivity imaging gave a clear evidence of structural details of the burial mounds. The results have shown a general consistency between the geophysical work and traditional archaeological drilling explorations, improving our knowledge on the un-excavated mounds, and allowing detailed pre-excavation plan at the Hepu Han Tombs.