Ancient tombs in the
Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, which may help
solve the mystery of the Loulan Kingdom of 2,000 years ago, have
been ransacked, according to yesterday's
Guangming Daily.
A
team of archaeologists who reportedly discovered the damage claimed
the tombs probably included kings' mausoleums, which have never
been found before.
But their claim was rejected by experts on Loulan studies in
interviews with China Daily.
An
excavation team organized by the local cultural heritage
administration has set out today for the tombs in the vast Lop Nur
desert in Xinjiang, said sources with the Xinjiang Archaeological
Research Institute.
The tombs were found with mummies torn, bones scattered, murals
destroyed and silk fabrics broken to pieces during the Spring
Festival period (February 1 to 7 this year).
"We met with a white car which fled on sight. Following the tracks
we saw the robbed tombs," said Zong Tongcang, member of the team
and researcher with the Palace Museum in Beijing.
One mural smashed depicted a golden camel and a silver camel biting
each other, and a man standing between them, making gestures to
stop the fight. Zong said camels were symbols of power in
Loulan.
"If what the team said was true, it would be the first time that
such fabulous murals and colored coffins were discovered in tombs
of the Loulan Kingdom," said Zhang Yuzhong, deputy head of the
Xinjiang Archaeological Research Institute.
Loulan Kingdom (176 BC-AD 630) was the hub of communications on the
Silk Road which connected the East with the West. It mysteriously
waned and was forgotten until the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin
(1865-1952) discovered its relics in 1900.
"The tombs were built under a Buddhist pagoda, which was deemed
holy in Loulan. The extraordinary burial site, tomb size, murals
and paintings on coffins all hinted the tombs may belong to the
kings," Zong was quoted as saying.
However, Lin Meicun, a professor with Peking University and a
prestigious scholar on Loulan, told China Daily that it was
unlikely kings' mausoleums were among the Lop Nur tombs.
"Lop Nur was, in the third century, the border between the kingdom
and regions under the direct jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty (206
BC-AD 220). Kings' mausoleums should be built in Ruoqiang, the
Loulan capital then, which is far from the Lop Nur," Lin noted.
It
is the second major raid on the Loulan tombs since 2002.
"It is difficult to guard the relics in the vast Xinjiang, which
makes up one-sixth of China's land territory. What is more, no one
can live in the Lop Nur desert and guard the Loulan relics," said
Zhang Yuzhong.
Zhang said investigations into the robbery are continuing.
"Protection of the Loulan relics is urgent," he noted.
(China Daily February 13, 2003)