"After 4 years of archaeological excavations, it has been confirmed that the ancient city of Lapchuk is a Nazhi city from the Tang Dynasty," said Xu Youcheng, assistant researcher at China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology.
The ancient city of Lapçuk, located in the Bostan village of Karadöve town of Evirğol region, approximately 65 kilometers east of Kumul City, was declared as a nationally important cultural relic conservation unit in 2019. In 2019-2022, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Artifacts and Archeology and Lanzhou University and Northwest University and the Dune Culture Museum formed an archeology team to conduct archaeological excavations of the ancient city ruins.
According to historical records, in the fourth year of the Zhenguan period of the Tang dynasty of China (630 AD), Evirgol Province was established in Kumul, while 3 counties, including Nazhi, were made directly subordinate to Evirgol Province. Dating shows that the ancient city of Lapçuk was used during the early and middle periods of the Tang Dynasty. It continued to be used and repaired during the Uighur period of Idikut (Gaochang), which is basically consistent with the historical record. Xu Youcheng said, "Archaeological findings in many areas such as the urban layout, annexes and funeral traditions of the ancient city of Lapchuk show that this city is the only city that has the most compatibility with the Tang period Nazhi city in the Baiyang River Valley."
To the west of the ancient city of Lapçuk, archaeological teams discovered the remains of a Buddhist temple. Xu Youcheng said, “There was a large-scale Buddhist temple here. While the temple is divided into two areas, there are relics such as Buddha halls, caves, monastery caves and pagoda. "The remains of other Buddhist temples discovered in Lapchuk and the Baiyang River Valley show the important position of Buddhism in people's lives at that time."
On the high platform to the northwest of the ancient city, archaeologists also discovered more than 50 circular storage caves of varying sizes and depths, arranged in regular rows. In addition, daily use items such as clay pots, jars, bowls and trays were unearthed from the Tang Dynasty kiln area north of the ancient city.
The discovery of the sloping tombs is an important achievement in the archaeological study of the ancient city of Lapçuk. These burials are a typical burial tradition in the Central Plains and were very popular in the Tang Dynasty.
Xu Youcheng said:
“While many sloping tombs have been found at Loulan (Kroren) to the south of the Turfan region and Dunhuang to the east, they have not previously been found only in Dune. The missing link regarding the extension of the inclined tomb style to the west has been completed in the archaeological studies on the Lapçuk cemetery.”
While archaeologists said that the remains such as Tang period coins in the cemetery all convey clear chronological information and that the ancient city period lasted from the beginning to the middle of the Tang period, he argued that the ancient city of Lapçuk was effectively proven to be the city of Nazhi during the Tang period.
Among the items unearthed from the Lapchuk cemetery are the Tang period Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, Wuzhu standard copper coins minted by Wudi, the emperor of the Han dynasty, hairpins, copper mirrors, as well as remains bearing the elements of Central Plains culture, as well as silver coins from the Sassanid Empire, copper earrings, rubies. There are currencies and goods that were popular in the Central Asian and Western Asian regions of the period, such as gold rings, glass evil eye beads and turquoises.
In a series of archaeological expeditions, the view of the city of Nazhi became increasingly clear.
Xu Youcheng said, “The city of Nazhi, which is the first major station west of Kumul city on the Old Silk Road, is also an important complementary point between Turfan and Kumul. This is an important region that enables citizens from East-West cultures and various ethnic groups to establish contact and mingle. I can say that during the Tang and Song dynasties, Nazhi was a city of considerable size, with thousands of people living in it.” he spoke
Experts argue that the archaeological excavations at Lapchuk Ancient City offer a new perspective for studying Xinjiang's history and culture during the Tang and Song dynasties, as well as trade on the Silk Road.
Archaeologists are also expected to carry out more archaeological excavations on the ruins of the ancient city of Lapçuk this year.