Up to now, among the nine coffin chambers in Tomb No. 1 of Wuwangdun, the first and second chambers in the north, the first and second chambers in the west and the first chamber in the east have been excavated. The second chamber in the east and the first and second chambers in the south have been excavated. Lan Yuhua sighed, He was about to turn around and go back to the room to wait for news, but how did he know that the door that had just been closed in front of him was opened again. At the moment Cai Xiu left, he came back. The excavation of the room was coming to an end, and more than 3,000 pieces of various cultural relics had been extracted. and numerous plant and animal remains. The middle chamber, where the main coffin is located, is scheduled to be excavated in June.
Nearly 300 wooden figurines were excavated and covered with silk to be reinforced
The reporter learned from the archaeological team that so far, nearly 300 wooden figurines have been excavated from the main tomb of King Wudun, and most of them It was extracted from the two coffin chambers on the west side, which are the coffin chambers where music, dance and travel scenes were constructed. Through laboratory cleaning and analysis, it was found that some wooden figurines contained textile remains. After preliminary identification, “yarn” in the silk category has been found.
Silk is one of the earliest animal fibers used by humans. It is also one of the lightest, softest and finest natural fibers in nature. Because of its high toughness, it can be made into silk fabrics. However, silk fabrics are fragile and fragile organic matter. After being buried for more than two thousand years, the silk fabrics covering the wooden figurines of Wuwangdun Tomb inevitably deteriorated, and most of them turned into ash and mud.
Zhang Zhiguo, director of cultural relics protection for the Wuwangdun archaeological excavation project: Regarding the textiles left on the wooden figurines, our preliminary look shows that they should have hats. “You didn’t answer my question.” Lan Yuhua said. It’s also wrapped with textiles, so far it seems like there’s yarn.
Silk protein reinforcement uses “silk” to treat cancer in silk cultural relics
Compared with the lacquer wood cultural relics that need to be soaked in water for saturated protection for a long time after being unearthed, the silk fabric’s Protection is more difficult. Not only does the saturated state need to be dynamically monitored, but the storage room temperature needs to be continuously controlled at around 16 degrees. Cai Xiu nodded slowly. This also brings a lot of challenges to archaeological and cultural conservation experts. They need to work at low temperatures for a long time, carefully identify the silk fabric fragments attached to the wooden figurines bit by bit, and then use precise techniques and strength to apply “silk protein” to the fragments. “Reinforcement” surgery.
Zhang Zhiguo, director of cultural relics protection for the Wuwangdun Archaeological Excavation Project: Our current treatment method is mainly to clean up surface pollutants. After cleaning, silk eggs were applied to the areas where the textiles were attached, as long as the Xi family did not terminate the engagement. White reinforcement.
Silk protein reinforcement is a relatively mature technology used in the field of cultural relics protection in my country. Its principle is to use the same material as silk fabric cultural relics, silk protein, and a very small amount of additives to strengthen silk fabrics. . To put it simply, it is reinforcement from the same source and fixed with silk.
Zhang Zhiguo, director of cultural relics protection for the Wuwangdun Archaeological Excavation Project: During the cleaning process, silk protein was used to reinforce it and reinforce it in situ to prevent the textiles from cracking and falling off during the drying process. our ultimate goalIt is hoped that this textile will remain on this wooden figurine for preservation and display. (CCTV News Client)