新疆阿斯塔那古墓群出土彩塑马尾装饰物的科学分析

SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF HORSETAIL FIGURINE DECORATION FROM THE ASTANA CEMETERY IN XINJIANG

阿斯塔那古墓群是新疆发现的最为重要的历史时期遗址之一,一直以来备受学术界关注。由于吐鲁番盆地气候炎热干燥,阿斯塔那古墓群保存下了数以万计的珍贵文物,其中包括颇为少见的各种泥俑。文章利用红外光谱、纤维旋转实验和显微形态观察等方法对阿斯塔那古墓群出土彩塑泥俑的马尾装饰物进行了科学分析,结果显示这些纤维来自于原产于近东、地中海沿岸的亚麻(Linum usitatissimum L.)。同时,结合出土文书,探讨了唐代吐鲁番地区亚麻的栽培利用状况,为深入认识亚麻传入中国的时间和路线提供了新的科学依据。

The Astana Cemetery is one of the most important historical archaeological sites in Xinjiang and always the focus in the academic field. Due to the extremely hot and dry climate in the Turpan Basin, tens of thousands of precious cultural relics were preserved in the Astana Cemetery, including a variety of clay figurines. Amongst them, horse-shaped figurines constitute a certain proportion and were decorated with fibrous material extending from the posterior area to represent a tail. Previous studies were mostly focused on the art form, manufacture technique and pigment source of these clay figurines, with few concerning the fiber source of the horsetails. In this study, Fourier Transform Infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy, drying-twist test and light microscope examination methods were applied on the horsetail decoration of a painted clay figurine. The spectrum of the ancient fiber showed recognizable infrared absorption peaks at 1619 cm-1, 1420 cm-1, 1317 cm-1, 1104 cm-1 and 1054 cm-1, which were the feature peaks of cellulose and lignin and indicated that the horsetail sample was made from plant fiber. The result of drying-twist demonstrated that the unknown fiber rotated clockwise when it became dry, which is similar to the rotation direction of ramie and flax. In addition, compared with published references, the ancient fibers fit quite well with those of flax based on the morphology characteristic of the cross section and the structure of the radial cell wall. By virtue of the above studies, the fiber sample was identified as belonging to flax, which was native to the Near East and Mediterranean Coast. Meanwhile, in conjunction with unearthed documents, we discussed the cultivation and utilization condition of flax in Turpan during the Tang Dynasty and this present work provided new scientific proof for better understanding the time and route of flax introduced into China.