Enormous tomb in the Shang Dynasty (17th century-11th century BC)

Location: Xin'gan County,JiangxiProvince

Period: About 12th century BC

Excavated in 1989

Double-sided bronze head of man or god: function unknown (up, height 53 cm); Rectangular ding (a three-legged or four-legged cauldron) with tiger's ears and nipple design: cooking vessel or ritual vessel (left, height 97 cm); Jade mask of god or man: function unknown (in the background, height 16.2 cm)

Significance: It has disclosed the features of the bronze civilization and burial systems of the nobles in theYangtze Rivervalley during the Shang Dynasty.

Introduction

The Xingan Tomb is a large Shang tomb atXingan,JiangxiProvince, famous for its bronze culture. Up to now, 1,361 pieces of relics like bronze, pottery, stoneware and jade have been unearthed, among which 475 pieces are ritual bronzes.

Among the vessels from this tomb, theDingvessels account for more than half of the total. Comparison with their counterparts in the Zhengzhou Erligang phase and the Anyang Yin period shows that the bronzes from Xingan distinctly differ from those in the Central Plains, as the main vessel type at Xingan is theDing, and in the Central Plains, theGuandJuewine vessels.

The XinganDinghas a variety of forms, with the flat-leggedDingconstituting the major group, thus suggesting that this subtype might have developed first in the south. The XinganDingoften bears tiger-shaped decorations on its two handles, and this seems to be an indication of totemism among the local ethnic groups. Chronologically, the XinganDingroughly corresponds to the late Zhengzhou Erligang Period.