Marquis of Haihun’s tomb of the Western Han Dynasty in Nanchang, Jiangxi

Abstract

AbstractSince March 2011, Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other institutions conducted excavation to Marquis of Haihun’s tomb of the Western Han Dynasty located on the Guodun Hill in Datangping Township, Xinjian District, Nanchang City. Marquis of Haihun’s tomb consisted of the burial mound in the shape of a truncated pyramid, the grave in a 甲 -shaped plan and the rectangular wooden coffin chamber. The wooden coffin chamber was partitioned into the main chamber, the passage, the ambulatory-shaped storage quarters and the corridor. The artifacts unearthed from the tomb included gold objects, bronzes, jades, lacquered and wooden wares, textiles, pottery wares, bamboo slips and wooden tablets, etc. Referring to the unearthed artifacts and the relevant historic textual materials, the occupant of this tomb is estimated to be Liu He, the first generation of the Marquis of Haihun of the Western Han Dynasty. The site of the Purple Gold City, the graveyards of the Marquises of Haihun of all of the generations and the cemeteries of the noble and common peoples formed the largest and best preserved settlement site of marquisate of the Han Dynasty found to date with the richest connotations.