Eggs of the Ming Dynasty were excavated in Guang'an 500 years ago
Recently, the staff of the cultural relics department of Guang'an City, Sichuan Province found eggs and rice 'through' 500 years during the archaeological excavation in the Xie Xing eco-cultural tourism park in Guang'an.
According to Tang Yunmei, curator of Guang'an Museum, these two cultural relics were found in two Ming Dynasty Tombs on the west side of Huludao in Xiexing park during the standardized construction of the national reservoir and the comprehensive treatment project of Xixi River Basin in Guang'an.
According to the epitaphs unearthed from the cemetery, the tomb is the tomb of Yang Ming (1435-1501) from Guang'an of the Ming Dynasty and his wife Zheng and fan. A total of 17 cultural relics of various types were unearthed in the cemetery, including glazed pottery granaries, porcelain bowls, bronze hairpins, bronze mirrors, epitaphs, etc. The most special is the grain bin placed in the No. 2 rear niche of M1. The remaining rice in the can is wrapped with intact eggs. The number of eggs is unknown.
According to reports, at present, there are only two cases in which eggs have been unearthed in Archaeology in China and published in the newspapers. One is the egg shell wrapped by soil in the Han Dynasty more than 2000 years ago found in the Golden Bay site in Xishui, Guizhou, and the other is a can of calcified egg shell in the spring and Autumn Period 2500 years ago found in the tukeng tomb in Shangxing Town, Liyang, Jiangsu. There are few cases of eggs unearthed in domestic archaeology, especially in Sichuan.
"The eggs can be preserved so well thanks to the careful construction of the tomb chamber by the son of the tomb owner." Tang Yunmei said that the stone chamber tomb has fine workmanship and good closure. The inner bottom of all wooden coffins is covered with 2-5cm lime layer and pillowed with lime pillows, with good moisture-proof and corrosion resistance. The barn cans containing rice and eggs are protected by the lid from the erosion of sludge, 'creating a closed space with constant temperature and humidity, so that the buried rice and eggs can be completely preserved to this day.'
"In view of the few cases of eggs unearthed in archaeology, the well preserved eggs unearthed from the Ming Tomb in Guang'an will provide valuable material materials for studying the evolution origin, feeding methods and the development history of poultry industry in Southwest China." Tang Yunmei introduced that in the next step, infrared nondestructive testing technology will be used to conduct nondestructive analysis on the unearthed eggs to clarify the actual quantity and preservation status of eggs, so as to take more scientific and reasonable preservation means.