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CHRONOLOGY OF THE TIANSHANBEILU CEMETERY IN XINJIANG, NORTHWESTERN CHINA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2020

Jianyi Tong Open the ORCID record for Jianyi Tong [Opens in a new window] ,
Jian Ma ,
Wenying Li ,
Xi’en Chang ,
Jianjun Yu ,
Jianxin Wang ,
Yingxia Ma ,
Yiliang Tian ,
Kuerban Reheman  and
Mulati Simayi
...Show all authors
Jianyi Tong
Affiliation:
School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, 229 North Taibai Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710069, China
Jian Ma*
Affiliation:
School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, 229 North Taibai Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710069, China
Wenying Li
Affiliation:
Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, 4 South Beijing Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 830011, China
Xi’en Chang
Affiliation:
Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, 4 South Beijing Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 830011, China
Jianjun Yu
Affiliation:
Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, 4 South Beijing Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 830011, China
Jianxin Wang
Affiliation:
School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, 229 North Taibai Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710069, China
Yingxia Ma
Affiliation:
Hami Museum, 20 West Huiwang Road, Hami, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Yiliang Tian
Affiliation:
Cultural Relics Bureau of Hami City, 2 West Hongxing Road, Hami, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 839121, China
Kuerban Reheman
Affiliation:
Hami Museum, 20 West Huiwang Road, Hami, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Mulati Simayi
Affiliation:
Hami Museum, 20 West Huiwang Road, Hami, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Liu Ruiliang
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX12PG, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Eurasian steppes experienced frequent cultural transfers, human migration, and diffusion of techniques during the Bronze Age. The Hami Oasis is one of the most dynamic areas and has attracted multiple cultural flows. It is an important area that connects various routes of the Tianshan Corridor with the Hexi Corridor in western China. The Tianshanbeilu cemetery is the largest Bronze Age cemetery in Hami. Thirty-seven new radiocarbon dates allowed us to establish a new and more accurate chronology for Tianshanbeilu. Our results showed that the Tianshanbeilu cemetery was used from approximately 2022–1802 cal BC and remained in use from 1093–707 cal BC. This indicates that Tianshanbeilu is the earliest and longest-used known cemetery in eastern Xinjiang. By incorporating the typology of artifacts and stratigraphic relationships, the development of the Tianshanbeilu cemetery was divided into four phases. The first phase was from 2011–1672 cal BC, the second phase was from 1660–1408 cal BC, the third phase was from 1385–1256 cal BC, and the fourth phase was from 1214–1029 cal BC.

Keywords

Bronze Agechronologyradiocarbon datingTianshanbeilu cemeteryXinjiang
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 343 - 356
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Copyright
© 2020 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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