The excavation of tomb M1 in Quangou cemetery, Wulan County, Qinghai

Abstract

Tomb M1 at Quangou cemetery in Wulan, Qinghai, is the only Tubo-period tomb with mural paintings discovered thus far on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. The tomb includes a tomb entry ramp leading to a rectangular multi-chambered structure built from bricks and timber. The walls of the antechamber and burial chamber are all painted with various images heavily influenced by typical Tang painting techniques, displaying Tang-period stylistic influence, although painted subjects present characteristic scenes of nomadic life on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. The color-painted lacquered coffins in the tomb are the first of their kind found in the region, indicating that the tomb occupant must have been of high social status. There is a secret compartment behind the tomb’s burial chamber, where a wooden chest was found containing a luxuriously decorated gilt silver crown and a turquoise-inlaid gold cup. The findings suggest that the tomb occupant was probably closely related to the local royal family under Tubo’s sovereignty.