2,500-year-old chariot and horse burial pit of a Zhou Dynasty ruler in China

A massive chariot and horse burial pit, dating back at least 2,500 years, accompanied the supreme ruler of China's Zhou dynasty after his death, continuing to demonstrate his lofty status. In ancient China, burying the dead with chariots and horses was a common practice. When did it begin and end, and how did it evolve? And this is the story of this funeral custom. Luoyang, a historical city in Henan Province, China, boasts many ancient sites. At the beginning of this century, archaeologists discovered a chariot and horse burial pit in the downtown area. Today it is a museum. There were 26 chariots and 70 horses buried in this large pit. The skeletons of the horses are still clearly visible, but the wooden chariots have long since rotted away and mixed with the mud, leaving only their outlines. Archaeologists believe the horses were killed and placed in the pit with those chariots as if they were still pulling them. Before this discovery, archaeologists had already known that this area was a massive Zhou dynasty cemetery through previous investigations. In the early stages of the excavation, they thought it might be a burial pit for a high-ranking royal family member. But soon they were surprised to see a chariot with six horses tied to it, and their skeleton were larger than those of other horses. After its founding in 1046 BC, the Zhou dynasty government established a social order that reflected the differences in social status, including the number of horses pulling the chariots. Only the supreme ruler could ride in a chariot pulled by six horses. The lower the rank of the official, the fewer the number of horses. Before this discovery, people had only read such descriptions in history books. This chariot proves that this is the burial pit of a supreme ruler of the Zhou dynasty, and these chariots and horses are his fleet in another world. The tomb of this supreme ruler should be nearby, but archaeologists have yet to pinpoint the exact location, so his identity remains a mystery. The Zhou was not the first dynasty in ancient China to bury chariots and horses with the dead. In the last century, archaeologists discovered many Shang dynasty chariot and horse burial pits in Anyang, Henan province, which were hundreds of years earlier than the ones we just saw. This burial custom probably originated during this period. In the era of cold weapons, chariots had huge advantages over infantry, and therefore played a crucial role in warfare. The number of chariots is often a significant indicator of a country's military strength. Burying the chariots and horses with the dead is like continuing to show off force in another world. But the Shang dynasty was brutal, and they often buried the charioteers as sacrifices. After the Zhou dynasty overthrew the Shang dynasty, it continued the tradition of burying chariots and horses with the dead while abandoning the practice of human sacrifice. The Zhou dynasty's rule lasted nearly 900 years. The Han dynasty, established around the 2nd century BC, continued this burial custom. In 1968, archaeologists accidentally discovered an undisturbed Han dynasty royal tomb on a mountain in Mancheng city, Hebei province. Due to the humid air, the wooden chariots had long since decayed, and they only found the skeletal remains of horses and bronze chariot parts in the cave. Those chariots and horses were all richly decorated when buried. This discovery shows ancient Chinese people still retained this funeral custom about 2,000 years ago. That said, this did not seem to be the mainstream practice at the time. In many other tombs from the same period, archaeologists have found terracotta figurines of people and horses instead of actual chariots and horses. Burying the dead with pottery figurines then became a popular burial custom in the following centuries. The chariot and horse pits have basically disappeared from Chinese history since then. This burial practice originated during the Shang dynasty, flourished during the Zhou dynasty, and ended during the Han dynasty, lasting for about a thousand years in ancient China. The supreme ruler possessed such a fleet of chariots even after his death. So what would his travel be like when he was alive? I guess we can only imagine.