Tibet Museum

Thanks to the concern of the Central Government and the hard work of archeologists over the past 40 years, Tibet has made many significant archaeological discoveries, arousing worldwide interest and providing scientific information about Tibet’s history. Like many other nationalities in the world, the mysteries in Tibetan history have inspired people’s imagination and enthusiasm.

Archaeological findings from the Stone Age and the Tubo period together with the discovery of rock paintings have created shock waves in academic circles.

During the early period of mankind, production tools were primarily made of stone. Historians call it primitive society and archaeologists call it the Stone Age. At first, as the stone implements were crude, this period has been called the Old Stone Age (which lasted for about 3 million years). The five Old Stone Age ruins discovered do far in Tibet are scattered in the central and western areas to the south of the Tanggula Mountains and to the north of the Himalayas. At an average elevation of 4,400-4,800 meters, these areas are dry and cold, with no frost-free period. Many places are known as “-man zones” where human existence is extremely difficult. However, the ancestors of Tibetans had lived there in ancient times, and the crude stone implements are evidence of their conquest over the harsh natural conditions.

Stone adze from the New Stone Age unearthed at the Karnub Ruins in Qamdo　

About 10,000 years ago, mankind entered the New Stone Age. More sophisticated techniques were used to chip stone implements, and polished stoneware and pottery appeared. There are relatively more ruin sites of the New Stone Age in Tibet, and the Best known are Karnub Ruins in Qamdo and Qugung Ruins in the north suburbs of Lhasa.

At Karnub Ruins in eastern Tibet’s city of Qamdo, a large number of architectural ruins chipped stone implements, fine stone implements, polished stone implements, bone implements, pottery, as well as animal skeletons and grain dating back 5,000 years ago have been unearthed through two major excavations in 1978-1979. Research has confirmed that on the plateau (with an elevation of over 3,100 meters) ancient Tibetans lived a stable life of farming and hunting. They not managed to live in the harsh natural conditions but also created a fairly advanced civilization, Research also reveals that the civilization was obviously linked with primitive cultures in the Yellow River valley and on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

The Qugung Ruins, dating back 4,000 years, are located in the northern suburbs of Lhasa. Excavation in 1990 yielded a large number of cultural relics, including stone tools for grinding cereal and cutting bushes and trees, pottery and bone implements for daily tasks, skeletons of livestock such as yaks, sheep and dogs, as well as wild animals such as horses, deer, boars and Tibetan donkeys. This is evidence that the people of that time lived a life dominated by farming and complemented by animal husbandry. The discovery of a bronze arrowhead indicates that the people had some fundamental knowledge about bronze making. Through studies, scientists conclude that the culture that had existed in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau was nurtured here rather than being transplanted from the outside world.

Armor of warriors dating back more than 700 years ago is preserved in the Sagya Monastery

The discovery of ruins and tombs from the Tubo period was a great achievement for Tibetan archaeology. The so-called Tubo period is roughly divided in to two historical phases, namely, the per-Tubo kingdom phase and the Tubo Kingdom phase. The first phase lasted for about 700 years from the second century BC to 629 AD. It started from the first legendary Tubo king Nyitri Tsampo and ended with the 31st king Namri Songtsan. During this phase, the Tubo society was actually a tribal alliance. In archaeological terms, it was at the end of the New Stone Age and the Bronze Age, while in historical terms, it was a legendary era with no written records. The Tubo Kingdom phase lasted for 213 years from 629 to 842. It started from the 32nd king Songtsan Gambo and ended with the 41st king Glan Darma. There were simple written records during this phase.

Over the last four decades. Two ruin sites and nearly 40burial sites with about 3,000 tombs from the Tubo period have been found in Tibet, the most famous being the Tombs of Tibetan Kings in Qonggyai County. Most of the tombs are found in the valley of the middle reaches of the Yalung Zangbo River with an elevation ranging from 2,800 to 3,700 meters. Most of the tombs are situated on slopes that face waters instead of on flatlands. Still waiting to be properly excavated, these ruin sites and tombs, as underground treasure-houses of the Tubo Culture, provide reliable information that unveils some of the mysteries of this spleen did culture.

The discovery of rock paintings in Tibet has surprised the world. Rock painting is a general tem referring to color painting, line carving and relief sculpture on rocks in grottoes or on cliffs. This art form has existed for about 20,000 years from primitive society to the Middle Ages. To date, rock paintings have been found in more than 70 countries and regions including China, drawing the attention of archaeologists，anthropologists and art historians.

　　The Tubo crown from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in Norbu Lingka, Lhasa.

It was doubted that doubted that there were any rock paintings in Tibet. But since the 1980s, Chinese scholars have found more than 30 places with rock paintings in Tibet, including over 300secnes with thousands of individual images. The paintings cover a wide range of subjects such as hunting, animal husbandry, dance, religion and battle, with most of them portraying animal activities. They provide visual materials by which experts can tuy to decode ancient Tibetan culture. Tibetan rock paintings are regarded as an important part of the world’s rock painting art.

Based on numerous findings, archaeologists and historians believe that the Tibet Plateau and the neighboring areas are probably one of the cradles of human evolution from the ape; the theory that Tibetan ancestors were immigrants from the outside is sheer nonsense. Dating back 4,000-5,000years during the New Stone Age, there were natives living on the Tibet Plateau, who overcame the adverse natural conditions and created a unique culture, The Tibetan ethnic group had primarily developed from those primitive people. The native Tibetan culture kept exchanges with the outside world, especially the ancient Qiang people in northwestern China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces, in addition to the Bronze Culture in western Yunnan and the Bashu Culture. Later, along with the historical development and the migration of population, the Mongolians in north China gradually expanded to the south and west. Some Mongolians entered the Tibet Plateau. Together with the naives, they created the splendid Tubo Culture. This is the historical foundation of the Tibetan and Tibetan culture.

This statue of Sakyamuni enshrined in the Jokhang Monastery was brought to Tibet by Princess Wencheng from Chang'an (today's Xi'an,Shaanxi Province) more than I,300 years ago.