Muddy Water & Robber Hole:Mystery to Be Unveiled

Text by Liu Yishan

Edited by He Sai & Bai Ning

Photos by Su Zhuolin & Zhang Qijun

The problem was how to remove these cumbersome wood plates now. They might have been very fragile owing to decay.Some suggested lifting them with manpower and some suggested dragging them away with a rope. To cooperate with the excavation,another army unit stationed nearby transferred an eightton crane.

Han Ningfu, the Secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee and Deputy Director of Hubei Provincial Revolutionary Committee at the time, had a special interest in archeology and the history of Hubei Province. On March 25, 1978, after reading Tan Weisi’s report, he immediately responded, “Please report to the National Cultural Heritage Administration and I agree to organize a strong team to perform the excavation.”

Very soon the report on the excavation of the No.1 Ancient Tomb of Drum-beating Mound received an affirmative reply from the National Cultural Heritage Administration and Hubei Provincial Revolutionary Committee, authorizing the Hubei Provincial Museum to organize the excavation work and Tan Weisi to lead the organization of the excavation team.

On receiving the instruction,Tan Weisi formulated a plan for the excavation with his team members. He started redeploying personnel,transferring technicians from other excavation sites to Suixian County. The National Cultural Heritage Administration dispatched specialists from the Palace Museum headed by fellow researcher Gu Tiefu for on-site guidance. The second year archaeology students at Wuhan University took part in the excavation and Suixian County Revolutionary Committee recruited dozens of local educated youths. A keenwitted and capable team of over one hundred people marched to the Drum-beating Mound.

The Crane Breakdown

On May 11, 1978, the excavation of the Tomb commenced.

The old water tower over the southeast corner of the Tomb pit was dismantled. The remaining fill, paving stone, plaster, and charcoal on the surface of the Tomb foundation were cleared up, and all the demolition work was basically finished on the night of May 14.

A coffin was found at the excavation site. 工人挖掘出棺木

時任湖北省委書記、湖北省革命委員會副主任韓寧夫，對湖北歷史與考古情有獨(dú)鐘。1978年3月25日，他看了譚維四的報告后，立即批示：“請告國家文物局，并同意組織強(qiáng)有力的發(fā)掘隊組織發(fā)掘?！?/p>

很快，關(guān)于發(fā)掘隨縣擂鼓墩一號古墓的報告獲得國家文物局和湖北省革命委員會的批復(fù)，湖北省博物館組織實(shí)施，譚維四主持組織考古隊全力發(fā)掘。

接到指令后，譚維四和他的考古隊?wèi)?zhàn)友們制訂了發(fā)掘方案。同時，他調(diào)兵遣將，從其他發(fā)掘現(xiàn)場抽調(diào)技術(shù)力量聚集隨縣。國家文物局派出以故宮博物院研究員顧鐵符為首的專家到現(xiàn)場指導(dǎo)。武漢大學(xué)考古專業(yè)1976級參加發(fā)掘，隨縣革委會還從當(dāng)?shù)卣惺諑资R青年參加，隊伍一行百余人，兵強(qiáng)馬壯，開赴擂鼓墩。

怎么把這些笨重的木頭挪開是個問題。這些木頭可能已經(jīng)腐朽易碎，有人建議用人抬，有人建議用繩子拖開。為配合發(fā)掘，附近駐扎的其他部隊調(diào)一輛起重8噸的吊車，供考古隊使用。

The next morning, a final clearance was carried out before opening the tomb roof, and all 47 timbers covering the tomb were visible now. The pit assumed a shape of three adjacent squares,divided into northern, eastern,and western chambers. The tomb roof timbers of the eastern chamber were laid out in a northsouth direction, each about 6 meters long, 0.7 meters wide and 0.6 meters thick, totaling 16 pieces; each piece closely connected with another. Those on the northern chamber were relatively smaller, totaling 13 pieces, while those on the western chamber were a bit thinner but bigger and longer,each measuring over 9 meters and the longest nearly 10 meters in length, and also with a very tight seam between the timbers.These timbers were all made of giant trees, each processed with a single piece of catalpa wood measuring between 2 to 3 cubic meters. Their surfaces assumed a blackness, and because of perennial burials, they were soaked totally by water.The small ones weighed more than a ton each, and the bigger ones more than two tons. After uncovering the roof, the tomb pit came in sight below.

The problem now was how to remove these cumbersome wood plates. They may have been very fragile owing to decay. Some suggested lifting them with manpower and some suggested dragging them away with a rope. To cooperate with the excavation, another army unit stationed nearby transferred an eight-ton crane. After the pit area had been cleared, it was no problem to install and operate the crane. However, fearful of the wood being damaged during the lifting process, some of the crew doubted the safety of the relics once using the crane. Tan Weisi and Guo Dewei had to consider the feasibility of the plan again.

Compared with the roof timbers of the No. 1 Tomb at the Tianxing Temple, the cover plates here at the Drum-beating Mound were thicker and better preserved. The cover plates at Tianxing Temple could be pulled out by trucks, so they thought that those at the Drumbeating Mound would be even more durable. Furthermore,in the course of clearing the cover fillers, not a single sign of breakage was found. They ultimately decided the crane was the best option.

On the night of March 16,they started lifting the timbers covering the No. 1 Ancient Tomb of Drum-beating Mound,beginning from the one with a hole left by robbers. As the plank severed by the robbers got stuck on a giant rock, it took them quite some effort to lift it up. The second was a much easier job.However, the crane broke as it was trying to lift the third one.The crowd who desired to see the treasure in the tomb that night left disappointedly. Only the archaeologists remained at the site.

The remaining crew silently looked at the robber hole and the two timbers that had been hung away from the tomb pit.The tomb robbers had used sharp tools such as axes and chisels to chop. It could be inferred from the fractures that the tomb robbers had likely visited the Tomb before the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

The Robber Hole

Viewed from the robber hole and the opening of the two timbers,the pit was full of muddy water and black mud under the dim yellow light.

Would there be anything left in the pit? The robbers had dug such a big hole and entered the outer chamber. What treasures did they steal? Tan Weisi and the group of archaeologists were worried about it.

Part of a bronze zun (wine vessel) 銅尊（局部）

好事多磨

1978年5月11日，隨縣擂鼓墩一號古墓發(fā)掘開始。

拆除清理壓在墓坑?xùn)|南角的舊水塔、清除墓基表面的殘存填土、鋪石、白膏泥、木炭等工作5月14日夜里基本完成。

15日上午，對木槨蓋板作開啟前最后一次清理，47塊蓋板全部顯露出來。蓋板也稱槨蓋板。墓坑的形狀由三個方形拼合而成，分為北室、東室和西室。東室槨蓋板南北鋪放，每塊約長6米，寬0.7米，厚0.6米，共16塊，塊與塊之間嚴(yán)絲合縫。北室之上的槨蓋板略短小，共13塊。西室槨蓋板雖薄一些，但長且大，每塊長9米多，最長的近10米，板與板之間嚴(yán)絲合縫。這些槨蓋板都是巨型枋木，都是用整棵的梓木加工而成，每根2至3立方米不等，外表均呈黑色，因常年掩埋，含有大量水分，小的重達(dá)1噸多，大的超過2噸。把這些槨蓋板揭開，下面就是古墓坑了。

然而，怎么把這些笨重的木頭挪開是個問題。這些木頭可能已經(jīng)腐朽易碎，有人建議用人抬，有人建議用繩子拖開。為配合發(fā)掘，附近駐扎的其他部隊調(diào)了一輛起重8噸的吊車，供考古隊使用。墓坑四周已清理完畢，吊車進(jìn)出、安裝、運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)都不成問題。吊車司機(jī)在現(xiàn)場勘測過，不論從哪個角度都可以起吊，吊臂也夠長。由于怕起吊的過程中，枋木斷裂砸傷文物，大家對吊車吊還是不放心。譚維四和負(fù)責(zé)清理的小組長郭德維等人不得不從各方面論證吊車起吊可行性。

Bamboo slips unearthed 出土竹簡

A sudden thunder stampeded,and a heavy rain poured down.They quickly packed up their tools and clothes and went back to the barracks. It rained all night and most of the next day. Around 3 pm, the sky began to clear up.

Because they did not have time to build a shelter over the grave,the workers could not work.Rainwater flooded into the pit,submerging the roof timbers.

The archaeological team installed a pump and inserted it into the cave to pump out the water.

The heavy rain not only filled the Tomb with water, but also drowned out some of the crew’s enthusiasm, especially those who hoped to discover perhaps an ancient corpse or important cultural relics in the Tomb.If you discovered important cultural relics or ancient corpses,the country would pay for the establishment of museums, and the county could gain instant fame.

However, the heavy rain made Tan Weisi more calm and steadfast. He and Gu Tiefu, the famous archaeologist from the Palace Museum—then in his late seventies—stood by the roof after the rain. Looking at Gu Tiefu’s calm expression, Tan Weisi asked: “Mr. Gu, What is your judgement of this Tomb?”

從盜洞和揭開兩塊槨蓋板的豁口看下去，昏黃的燈光下，滿坑是渾濁的水和黑乎乎的淤泥。

里面還有東西么？盜墓賊挖了這么大的洞，進(jìn)入槨室了，他們盜走了什么寶貝？

與天星觀一號墓的槨蓋板相比，擂鼓墩墓的蓋板粗大，保存良好。天星觀的槨蓋板能用卡車?yán)瓫]折斷，說明韌性很好，而擂鼓墩的應(yīng)該更有韌性，因?yàn)檫@種木料越粗大，內(nèi)部保存越好，安全越有保障。再者，在清理這些蓋板填充物的過程中，未發(fā)現(xiàn)蓋板有半點(diǎn)斷裂跡象。大家的意見基本趨于一致：用吊車起吊。

5月16日晚，擂鼓墩一號古墓的槨蓋板開始起吊，先從有盜洞的那塊槨蓋板開始。因?yàn)楸槐I墓賊割斷的那根槨蓋板被一塊大石卡住，頗費(fèi)了些工夫才吊起來。第二塊比較順利，吊第三塊槨蓋板時，吊車出了故障。原本以為當(dāng)晚就可以見到墓內(nèi)寶貝的現(xiàn)場群眾，心里涼了半截，失望地散去，現(xiàn)場只留下考古人員。

大家默默地看著盜洞和已吊出墓坑外的兩塊槨蓋板，覺得好事真多磨。槨蓋板截斷的原因，是盜墓賊用斧頭、鑿子之類的銳器劈鑿所致，從斷裂處推斷，盜墓賊應(yīng)是在隋唐之前光臨此墓的。

盜洞疑云

從盜洞和揭開兩塊槨蓋板的豁口看下去，昏黃的燈光下，滿坑是渾濁的水和黑乎乎的淤泥。

里面還有東西么？盜墓賊挖了這么大的洞，進(jìn)入槨室了，他們盜走了什么寶貝？譚維四和一批考古人員都在擔(dān)心這一問題。

這時，突然一聲炸雷響起，大雨傾盆而下。眾人趕緊收拾工具和衣物撤回軍營住處。

雨下了一夜又大半個白天，直到第二天下午3點(diǎn)，天才開始轉(zhuǎn)晴。

因?yàn)槟箍記]來得及搭建防雨棚，人們不能工作，雨水積于坑內(nèi)，淹沒了槨蓋板。

考古隊調(diào)來潛水泵，插入盜洞內(nèi)抽水。

一場大雨，致使墓坑內(nèi)滿是積水，把一些人的熱情澆熄了，特別是那些希望古墓內(nèi)能挖出個古尸和重要文物的人。發(fā)現(xiàn)重要文物或古尸，國家就會出錢建博物館，隨縣也能名揚(yáng)四海。

大雨卻把譚維四澆得冷靜而堅定了。他和年近七旬的著名考古專家顧鐵符站在雨后的墓坑槨蓋板上?？粗欒F符淡定的神情，譚維四問：“顧老，您看這墓內(nèi)的情況？”

顧鐵符反問：“你看這盜洞是哪個朝代的？古圓近方么！”

旁邊有人問：“啥叫古圓近方？”

譚維四對發(fā)問的人說：“顧老說的這話，指的是古代盜洞都是圓形的，近代的都是方形的?！?/p>

顧鐵符滿面和善地對大家說：“盜洞上面的情況已看不到了，據(jù)譚隊長介紹，我感覺這個盜洞應(yīng)該是漢代或漢代之前的。根據(jù)洞口直徑不到一米的情形，洞中僅容一人通過，應(yīng)是私盜而不是官盜。這么大的墓，里面肯定有大東西，盜墓賊進(jìn)來，也只能拿走一些小東西，大東西他們拿不出去。我認(rèn)為大東西沒有損失?！?/p>

譚維四也是這樣認(rèn)為的，盜洞規(guī)模小，洞內(nèi)又沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)晚于西漢的遺物，而且像江陵望山一號墓、二號墓，信陽長臺關(guān)二號墓，長沙馬王堆二號墓都有被盜痕跡，但仍出土大量文物。

顧鐵符的話像一劑強(qiáng)心針，鼓舞了在場的人，大家對發(fā)掘的前景充滿了信心。

顧老的分析，譚維四覺得很有道理，心中的信念更堅定了：這墓里一定有好東西。

起重吊車修好了，繼續(xù)從盜洞開始，向北邊一塊塊地起吊槨蓋板。

When all the fortyseven cover timbers were lifted, the structure of the entire tomb was clear. The western chamber was separated by a wall panel and divided into a middle chamber and a side chamber. This tomb had three rooms and one hall—very similar to a modern apartment structure.

Gu Tiefu asked back, “What dynasty do you think this hole belongs to? Don’t forget the saying ‘a(chǎn)ncient round and neoteric square.’”

“What on earth does ‘a(chǎn)ncient round and neoteric square’mean?” someone inquired.

Tan Weisi answered, “What Gu just said refers to the fact that the ancient robber holes are round,and modern ones are square.”

Gu Tiefu said to everyone encouragingly: “Based on the introduction by Team Leader Tan, I feel that the robber hole is from or before Han Dynasty.Since the diameter of the hole is less than one meter, only one person could pass through the hole, which means this was a small robbery. There must be big things in such a big tomb. Tomb robbers could only take away small things when they came in.They couldn’t have taken out big ones, so I don’t think the big treasures are lost.”

Tan Weisi agreed with him:the scale of the robber hole was small, and no relics later than the Western Han Dynasty had been found in it. Moreover, there were traces of theft in the No. 1 Tomb,the No. 2 Tomb at Wangshan,the No. 2 Tomb at Changtaiguan in Xinyang, and the No. 2 Tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha, but a large number of cultural relics were still unearthed.

Gu Tiefu’s words, full of confidence in the prospect of the excavation, inspired everyone present. Tan Weisi deemed Mr.Gu’s analysis highly reasonable,which further strengthened his belief: there must be wonderful stuff in this Tomb.

After the crane was repaired,they continued to lift the cover planks to the north from the robber hole. When all the planks of the northern chamber had been lifted, the interior was filled with black water. Nothing could be seen except a few small pieces of bamboo sheets floating on the water.

Tan Weisi asked someoneto find a long iron wire and stretched it slowly down the tomb wall. The water depth in the outer chamber was 3.13 meters—almost the height of two adults.

When all the forty-seven cover timbers were lifted, the structure of the entire tomb was clear. The western chamber was separated by a wall panel and divided into a middle chamber and a side chamber. This tomb had three rooms and one hall—very similar to a modern apartment structure.

The four chambers were eventually opened, two painted coffins appeared on the water surface of the western chamber,and eight coffins appeared on the water surface of the eastern,also color-painted. Doubtlessly,these ten coffins were the accompanying coffins, and such a great number fully exhibited the distinguished identity of the host of the Tomb. Worryingly,the whole tomb was full of muddy water. The extent of the ancient theft was still unclear due to the flooding. Tan Weisi frowned slightly, demanding to speed up the drainage. The only thing they could do now was to wait for the emergence of fact as the watersubsided.

Bronze pots on a single stand 聯(lián)禁銅壺

北室槨蓋板全部起吊完了，室內(nèi)滿是積水，除水面漂浮起幾小塊竹片，什么也看不到。

譚維四叫人找來一根長鐵絲順著槨墻緩緩伸下去，測得槨室內(nèi)的水深達(dá)3.13米，差不多兩人深了。

當(dāng)47塊槨蓋板全部起吊完畢后，整個墓室的結(jié)構(gòu)清楚了，除北室和東室外，西室中間又被槨墻板隔開，分成中室和西室。這個墓為三室一廳，很像如今的單元房結(jié)構(gòu)。

現(xiàn)場出現(xiàn)了喜憂參半的情緒。

喜的是，四個墓室打開，西室水面浮出兩口彩繪棺材，東室水面浮出八口棺材，也是彩繪的，有的蓋身已經(jīng)分離。這十口棺材是陪葬棺無疑，有這么多的陪葬棺，說明這座古墓的主人身份地位不低。憂的是，整個墓坑全是渾濁的積水，晚風(fēng)吹過，漾起陣陣漣漪。墓坑內(nèi)的文物到底被盜到什么程度，還是個未知數(shù)。譚維四輕輕皺了皺眉頭，要求加速排水，只等水落石出。