According to China Daily, since the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), the Hongdu Plateau in Ham Duong, Thieu Tay Province today, has been a resting place for people with high social status.
As a result, Chinese archaeologists have discovered a large number of tombs of famous figures there, including the tombs of 9 emperors and members of the royal family dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD).
In the central plateau area, archaeologists discovered the largest independent cemetery including tombs from the Thap The Que period (304-439) to the Duong Dynasty (618-907).
The archaeological excavations from 2021 to 2023 were conducted by the Institute of Archaeology and Conservation of Cultural Relics of Tay An City.
Archaeologists have discovered a moat surrounding Beichengcun cemetery, identified 301 graves and excavated 285 graves.
According to Chai Yi, a researcher at the Institute, they have basically determined the scale and arrangement of the cemetery of more than 80,000 square meters. The tombs are reasonably arranged in rows from west to east, with the path facing east.
The tombs can be divided into three periods.
First was during the Crusade, when there were 38 tombs arranged in 4 rows in the northeast. These are all tombs with long steep passages.
In this year's excavation, archaeologists have found a tomb containing earth replicas of wooden structures and carvings on the earthen walls similar to the wooden girder frame commonly used by the Han people.
According to Wei Zheng, a professor of archaeology at Beijing University, this custom is very rare and is believed to have appeared during the British colonial period in the central Thong Quang.
This reflects the ancient Chinese concept of life and death - that is, serving the dead as if they were alive.
In the year of the colony, which includes 101 tombs from the second period - from Bac Nguy to Tay Nguy (535-556), there are only a few exhibits excavated including coins, clay jars and a long chair.
The remaining 146 tombs belong to the Bac Chu (557-581), Tuy (581-618) and Duong dynasties, in the west, northeast and other vacant areas of the cemetery.
Archaeologists have also analyzed the remains of about 400 people discovered there, with a generally balanced sex ratio - 100 women out of 130 men. Most are between the ages of 25 and 50.
Because the scale of cemeteries is much larger than that of a single clan, archaeologists believe that they belong to a clan.
Archaeological analysis shows that they may be closely related to some groups such as the Khuong, Di and Rong ethnic groups.
Although the cemetery's owners may be non-H itself, the cemetery's characteristics, including the arrangement of tombs and excavated artifacts such as clay statues, coins and bronze mirrors, are not much different from the characteristics of the contemporary culture of central China.
Archaeological analysis shows that most of these people mainly ate plant-based foods, adding a little meat. In addition, the scale of the tombs seems to have decreased over three periods. During the Imperial crown period, very large tombs for officials or nobles were shown through the scale and excavated artifacts. But from Bac Nguy to Tay Nguy, the tombs are all of medium size, with much less burial objects. In the most recent period, the tombs were very small and perhaps reserved for the common people.
According to experts, this cemetery can be considered an important discovery in the history of Chinese tomb archaeology, because archaeologists do not know much about tombs from the Imperial Court to recent times.
