Category:Digital photographyStorms To The Sky
In the history of the world, the tallest, strongest, most magnificent Storms have been unleashed on the streets of Beijing. Between the years 774 and 789 AD, a number of such storms rumbled through, from the Mogao cave paintings to the walled city of the ancient capital of China, the Forbidden City.
In the year 774, a period when the Tang Dynasty was flourishing and Tang China was enjoying a Golden Age, a series of Storms hit China, submerging the surrounding areas in flash floods, causing great losses of life and property.
The remains of one such Storm, a ‘Great Flood’, were revealed during a recent excavation in the Jiaohe Archaeological Research Site. Dr. Xu Zhiqing, Director of the Archaeology Research Institute, described the find as “significant” and said, “The excavation of this great Flood is important for two reasons. Firstly, it tells us more about the history of China. Secondly, it helps archaeologists better understand modern flood control techniques.”
The excavation site is located in Jiaohe city in Henan Province. This was the capital city of the Xianbei people during the Jin Dynasty (AD 280-420). Dr. Xu explains, “There is now only one level that is relatively intact. Previously, there were three or four levels and they were all badly eroded. The level we are excavating is actually the second-highest.”
“These images were taken in situ, showing the fragile nature of the upper layer.”
Dr. Xu points out that when the site was first excavated, in the early 1980s, part of it was also damaged by a huge series of Storms. This caused the previous occupants to build their houses and other structures on the shallow riverbed, making it impossible for the archaeologists to excavate the underlying levels.
Since then, many of these structures have been removed and now only a portion of the first, second and third levels remain, as illustrated in the images. The small surface area under excavation here has only provided the archaeologists with a small glimpse into the lives of this ancient capital.
The research team was primarily concerned with finding traces of the people who lived here during this time. They discovered that this was a site for the Confucian elite, who lived in magnificent palaces. One of these palaces had particularly ac619d1d87
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