Yinan tombs, Ancient burial site in Linyi City, China
The Yinan tombs, also called Beizhai tombs, are two late Eastern Han tombs (168–189 CE) in Beizhai Village, about 3 km northwest of Yinan county seat, Shandong. Tomb M1 holds a husband and wife, the wife on the left in the higher-status chamber; M2 may belong to their descendants. Both are stone-chambered, with corbelled "lantern" roofs and 42 reliefs of battles, processions, music and dance.
The tombs date to 168–189 CE, late Eastern Han. Tomb M1 held a couple, the wife on the left and the husband on the right; its scale suggests she outranked him and may have been linked to the imperial house. Scholars most widely accept the Eastern Han Grand Marshal Fu Zhan as the occupant, though the identification is still debated. Both tombs were looted: M1 possibly in the Three Kingdoms period, M2 in the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, where Song coins and a glazed oil lamp left by robbers were found.
Tomb M1 held a couple, the wife on the left and the husband on the right; the larger chamber for the wife suggests she outranked him in life, and some scholars link her to the Eastern Han imperial family. The accepted occupant is Fu Zhan, Grand Marshal of the Eastern Han. M2 probably belongs to descendants of the M1 couple.
The tombs lie in Beizhai Village, about 3 km northwest of Yinan County seat in Linyi, Shandong. A museum, the Yinan Han Tombs Museum (also called Beizhai Han Tombs Museum), was built at the site. Tomb M1 was robbed as early as the Three Kingdoms period, losing its doors and coffin; M2 was looted in the Northern Song, under Emperor Huizong, yet still yielded over 80 objects.
Tomb 1 was likely looted as early as the Three Kingdoms period, when its doors and coffins were taken; Tomb 2 was probably robbed in the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, since coins of that era and a Song glazed oil lamp left by the robbers were found inside. Despite this, Tomb 2 still yielded more than 80 objects.
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