More than 100 human bones discovered by the archaeological team of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum at the site of firing bricks and tiles in Qin Dynasty were confirmed as T-group individuals in Western Europe and Asia by DNA detection. "There are 65,438+00 people in Western Europe and Asia in the world who own this T- group, belonging to Zoroastrianism, Persians and Kurds respectively." Xu Zhi, a researcher at the Center for Modern Anthropology of Fudan University, said excitedly recently.
In February 2003, according to the usual practice, the archaeological team of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum began to clean up a kiln site where bricks were fired in the Qin Dynasty. The kiln site is located in front of the Museum of Qin Figurines in Lintong District, and Nanli Mountain was washed away by the flood.
More than a month later, the archaeological team found more than 100 human bones in a pit about10 meters deep from the ground next to the kiln site. The pit is located in the east of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, and its shape is irregular, just like a mass grave. Most people are left here at will soon after they die. The archaeological team finally confirmed that the number of bones was 12 1. According to on-site experts' preliminary speculation, they were laborers who died because of the construction of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.
In order to further judge these human bones, in September 2004, researchers from the Center for Modern Anthropology of Fudan University randomly selected 50 samples from the remains of 12 1 for DNA testing. The test results came out a few months later. Among the successfully extracted 15 human remains, one sample has the characteristics of Western Europe and Asia, and belongs to a typical T group individual in Western Europe and Asia.
"There are 65,438+00 people in Western Europe and Asia in the world who own this T- group, belonging to Zoroastrianism, Persians and Kurds respectively." Xu Zhi, a researcher at the Center for Modern Anthropology of Fudan University, said excitedly. According to the definition of archaeology, both Western Europe and Asia belong to Europe.
"The earliest record of cultural exchanges between China and the West is only Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty. Now with this body, there is archaeological evidence of cultural exchanges between China and the West in the Qin Dynasty. " Duan Qingbo, captain of the archaeological team of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, told reporters.
According to archaeology, the discovery of "foreign laborers" has "come" to the hinterland of China 2200 years ago, which is no less significant than the discovery of orientals among pyramid builders, and is of great significance in the history of cultural exchanges between the East and the West. On the other hand, it can be used as a powerful evidence to solve the mystery of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum.
Guess 1. Cultural emissary who brings foreign science and technology.
Some experts say that "foreign workers" may be foreign cultural messengers sent to the Qin Dynasty at that time. People who hold this conjecture associate "migrant workers" with the construction of the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. Duan Qingbo said: "There are too many mysteries in the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor that cannot be solved, but the skeleton excavated now may give us a clear answer."
According to statistics, there are more than 8,000 life-size pottery figurines in the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. "It doesn't conform to the tomb specifications in China. Qin has never appeared before, and no emperor has ever built such a large-scale tomb in the future. "
Duan Qingbo said that a cultural achievement always has a long-term process of gradual development and continuation, but the mausoleum culture in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum belongs to "unprecedented". "Now it seems that there are tall figures in the tombs that are very similar to Egypt, and the connection may be foreign workers involved in the construction."
In addition, the construction technology of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum also gives archaeologists a headache. According to the investigation, there are hollow bricks 1 m long and 40 cm thick in the tomb, and the terracotta warriors and horses nearly 2 meters high are also hollow, which have not appeared in the following hundreds of years. Duan Qingbo said that although the Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses were copied in the Han Dynasty, they were only 40 centimeters high and their technical content was greatly reduced.
"If we only develop from the Qin Dynasty itself, these questions are mysteries, but if we put these amazing technologies into the world and introduce' foreign workers' into the questions, it will be convenient to answer them."
Although the literature does not record the cultural exchanges between China and the West and the visits of foreign envoys in the Qin Dynasty. However, according to historical facts, the Qin Dynasty was relatively short, but in 15, due to the war after the death of Qin Shihuang, there were few historical materials left, and the available historical materials were likely to be destroyed; In addition, Qin Shihuang had the habit of traveling around the world, and he also sent Xu Fu to the sea to look for the elixir of life. These historical examples also show that it is entirely possible for the Qin Dynasty to communicate with foreign countries.
Guess two. Foreign prisoners of war indirectly captured
"This migrant worker is probably caught to participate in the construction of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor." Tan Jingze, an associate professor at the Center for Modern Anthropology of Fudan University, prefers the predatory theory.
Zhang, a professor of history at Sun Yat-sen University, believes that according to the historical facts at that time, the sphere of influence of the Qin Dynasty did not go to the Western Regions, and it was impossible to arrest people in the Western Regions to build the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. However, according to historical records, the Qin Dynasty fought against foreign countries many times, and the famous Meng Tian defeated the Xiongnu many times. "At that time, the Huns had a large sphere of influence and often contacted and contacted Westerners. It is not surprising that they captured Westerners during the war. "
"So it is normal for the Qin Dynasty to fight against the Xiongnu again and capture the Xiongnu. This person is a foreigner. " Professor Ge Xiongjian said that this contact with foreigners by means of war is sometimes indirect, not direct.
In addition to the possibility of capturing "foreign workers" in foreign wars, some people think that "foreign workers" were plundered when they were in contact with Qin people. People who hold this view insist that during the Qin Dynasty, there were various exchanges between China and the West. Tan Jingze believes that before the Han Dynasty, the northern part of China was a nomadic place for grassland people from east to west. "Before Qin Shihuang's rule, although there were few large-scale crowd exchanges between the East and the West, small-scale crowd exchanges existed and were normal."
Judging from the existing historical materials, it was not until the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that there was clear evidence of the exchange between China and the West. However, according to research, the goods produced in Sichuan have spread to India and Central Asia since the Han Dynasty. "There must be a traffic route to circulate, and the time from the Han Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty is very short. In less than a hundred years, the formation of a traffic artery cannot be formed in a very short time. " Professor Ge said to the analysis.
"So, since there is a communication route, we can't rule out the view that foreign workers are plundered when interacting with Qin people."
Guess 3. Descendants of foreigners in Qin dynasty
According to the literature, people who participated in the construction of the Qin Mausoleum had different territories at different stages. During the large-scale construction of the cemetery, more than 700,000 people were recruited from all over the country to participate in the work. When the tomb was closed, countless laborers were buried in order not to leak.
Then, will "foreign workers" originally belong to the Qin Dynasty? Some experts said that this view needs to be based on two other possibilities: at that time, there were foreigners living in or around the Qin Dynasty? Or did Qin people intermarry with foreigners and leave their descendants behind?
For the former possibility, there is a historical fact that cannot be ignored: during the Qin Dynasty, the ethnic minorities located in the Hexi Corridor later migrated to Central Asia. According to historical geography experts' research, Hexi Corridor has always been one of the main roads for nomadic people in western and northern China to enter the Central Plains. During the great migration of this nation, the ethnic composition here is more complicated. "Associated with this historical situation, the appearance of" migrant workers "is more normal."
The second question, Xu Zhi seems very sure. He said that the discovery of "the characteristics of Western Europe and Asia" shows that before the prosperity of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, East Asians may have had frequent contacts with Western Europe and Asia, and even had some genetic exchanges. Professor Tan Jingze also believes that although the genes of "migrant workers" have elements from Western Europe and Asia, they are probably not the first generation. As for which generation, it is still uncertain. "
In addition, experts also cited another historical fact: before the opening of the "Silk Road" in the north, Chengdu people had already entered Yunnan, passed through Myanmar, went to India, went to Central Asia and turned to Europe. This is the so-called "Southern Silk Road" in history. This historical fact further illustrates the possibility of gene exchange between the East and the West before the prosperity of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty.