28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Ancient terracotta dancers, and musicians unearthed in China

Chinese archaeologists recently discovered a large group of terracotta figurines from a tomb in a group dating to the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) in Datong, Shanxi province.

Numerous burial items, primarily earthenware figurines, were found in tomb 113 and contained dozens of burial objects, the majority of which were earthenware figurines. The figurines are led by pottery horsemen. Behind them is a full entourage of laborers, animals, objects of daily life, bullock carts, and 10 Hu figurines, musicians, acrobats, and dancers posted in dynamic forms.

According to experts, the recent archaeological find offers fresh data for the study of the dynasty’s social life, ethnic dress, and funeral customs.

This terracotta figurine was unearthed by archaeologists from the Datong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology from a tomb dating to the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) in Datong, Shanxi province. Photo: Chinadaily

In a typical Northern Wei Hu character, the player’s eyes are deep and wide, and the nose is short and high. They wear robes with round necks and narrow sleeves. The underside of the robe has slits to reveal the performers’ boots. The ensemble of three musicians is particularly striking. They were all seated, wearing tall bell hats with a cruciform ridge on the front and back. The hat is tied around the back of the head, and a little skirt covers the back of the neck underneath the hat’s tie.

The relics indicate that the tomb owners belonged to the upper class. Female musicians’ costumes demonstrate the period’s integration of national culture and costume development.

Photo: Chinadaily

From 398 to 494, Pingcheng (modern-day Datong) was the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Drought, repeated famines, and incursions from the proto-Mongolic Rouran Khaganate to the north compelled Emperor Xiaowen to relocate the capital to Luoyang in 494 A.D., despite his court’s protests. Unlike Pingcheng, which was in the nomadic steppe, Luoyang had been the capital for several ruling dynasties dating back millennia, and the Yellow River basin area was extensively settled and cultivated. It remained a regional administrative center until the 520s, but its population and prosperity plummeted as a result of the relocation.

Related Articles

Archaeologists discover secondary gate of old Bazira city in Pakistan

26 March 2022

26 March 2022

Archaeologists claimed to have discovered the secondary gate of the city of Bazira during new excavations at Barikot in Pakistan’s...

Archaeologists discover that Iranian farmers grew rice about 3,000 years ago

18 May 2023

18 May 2023

Archaeologists excavating in Iran’s Mazandaran region have revealed that Iranian farmers were cultivating rice as far back as 3000 years...

‘4,200-year-old Zombie grave’ discovered in Germany

22 April 2024

22 April 2024

Archaeologists excavating in East Germany have found a 4,200-year-old grave near Oppin in Saxony-Anhalt containing the skeleton of a man...

Archaeologists find the earliest evidence Maya sacred calendar in the Guatemalan pyramid

14 April 2022

14 April 2022

Archaeologists identified two plaster fragments depicting a date that the Maya civilization called ‘7 deer’ and was part of the...

2,000-Year-Old Artifacts Found at Swat’s Butkara Site in Pakistan, Including Coins and Kharosthi Inscriptions

14 February 2025

14 February 2025

Excavations at the Butkara Stupa, located near Mingora in Swat, Pakistan, have uncovered significant findings, including two-thousand-year-old coins, pottery, and...

The biblical narrative of Sodom may have been inspired by a cosmic meteorite that devastated an ancient city

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

The Bible account of Sodom’s destruction lies at the heart of classic “fire and brimstone” judgment day prophesies. But what...

2000-year-old ancient Roman Road, described as the most important in Scottish history, has been discovered

3 November 2023

3 November 2023

A 2000-year-old ancient Roman road was unearthed in Old Inn Cottage’s garden near Stirling, Scotland. The site is located a...

‘Dinosaur dance floor’ dating back 80 million years found in China

20 April 2021

20 April 2021

In China, researchers have found many dinosaur footprints in an area of 1,600 square meters described in the literature as...

Newly discovered inscribed brick may reveal Elamite water supply system in Western Iran

15 January 2024

15 January 2024

Archaeologists discovered a brick inscribed with Akkadian script, marking the Elamite water supply system, alongside some intricately patterned bricks in...

Archaeologists unearth first archaeological evidence about Anatolia’s mysterious Kaska community, sworn enemies of the Hittites

16 January 2025

16 January 2025

In the course of the excavations conducted by Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University‘s Department of Archaeology, artifacts from the Late Bronze...

Archaeologists Unveil Sanctuary of Odysseus on Ithaca: A Monumental Discovery Rooted in Myth and History

15 June 2025

15 June 2025

A major archaeological breakthrough on the Greek island of Ithaca has brought new clarity to the island’s legendary past. Researchers...

Archaeologists uncovered a Roman settlement and what is thought to be an extremely rare early Medieval longhouse in North East Wales

16 August 2024

16 August 2024

The team from the University of Chester, Heneb: the Trust for Welsh Archaeology (Clwyd-Powys region), and the Portable Antiquities Scheme...

An 800-meter-long colonnaded street from the Roman period discovered in Türkiye’s famous holiday resort Antalya

18 April 2024

18 April 2024

During the archaeological excavations in Hıdırlık Tower, one of the historical symbols of Antalya, the famous holiday resort in the...

Sculpted Ancient Warrior Wearing A Serpent Helmet Found At Chichén Itzá

14 November 2023

14 November 2023

In the Casa Colorada archaeological complex within the premises of Chichén Itzá in Mexico, a sculpture of an anthropomorphic face...

A rare 3,300-year-old bronze helmet reaching the present from the Hittite Empire era

17 July 2022

17 July 2022

The 3,300-year-old bronze helmet, which was unearthed during the 2002 excavations in Şapinuva, one of the important cult centers of...