First Chinese Murals Unearthed In Shimao Ruins Are Over 4,000 Years Old

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - A series of murals recently discovered in Shimao Ruins indicate that the basic production process and rendering techniques used to make Chinese murals might be more than 4,000 years old.

Shimao ruins, Shaanxi Province. Photo credit: Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute

Shimao Ruins, located in Shenmu County of Shaanxi Province, China date from the late Longshan Period (about 2350 to 1950 BC) to the Xia Dynasty (c.21st century-16th century BC).

The site was a huge stone city covering an area of more than four square kilometers.

Since 2011, archaeologists have found many precious relics including a large number of carved jade and some 200 pieces of colorful murals in the Shimao Ruins.

Experts from the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology say that following lab experiments and analysis, the basic production process and rendering techniques used on the murals in Shimao Ruin were similar to those used to make frescoes dating from the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) and later dynasties.

This indicates that the process and techniques were in use more than 4,000 years ago.

Image credit: chinadaily.com.cn

Archaeologists found traces of pigment layers on a mural that indicates brush-like tools were used to make the mural, even though the brush is considered to have been invented by Meng Tian, a general in the Qin Dynasty (221 – 207 BC).

"The history of using the brush by Chinese people will be rewritten if the tool used to make the mural is confirmed to be a brush," experts said.

The experts also noted that the types of pigments used for the murals were made of glauconite, which was found in the sea, but the Shimao Ruin is located on the Loess Plateau far from the sea.

"The source of the pigment is also a concerned matter for further research," experts said.

According to the historical record, Chinese murals were used to decorate houses from early on and used for tombs as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 – 771 BC). The murals were found mainly in North China, which indicates that the region was the birthplace of the Chinese mural, experts said.

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Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer