4,000-year-old Chinese earthquake victims captured in their final moments

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Victims of the earthquake that struck the Chinese community of Lajia in Qinghai Province on the upper Yellow River were on display at the Lajia Ruins Museum in 2015. It’s a scene that China People Daily says brings tears to visitors’ eyes as victims are seen huddled in terror, while women hug small children in an attempt to protect them.

Like the victims of Pompeii, the Roman city overwhelmed by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, the building’s inhabitants in Lagia were preserved in an untimely, brutal death. Whereas the humanity of Pompeii is preserved by a covering of volcanic ash and mud, in Lagia the full terror is bestially shown in the skeletal remains.

Bronze Age catastrophe

The disaster was caused by a mudslide caused by an earthquake that destroyed a Bronze Age building including everyone inside. It was a family home that its occupants had sought refuge in, hoping to survive. The remains of a woman and a child, possibly a boy, are preserved on one of the walls. The woman’s skull looks up while her arms encircle the child. Upstairs, another woman and child can be seen in a similar position while the skeletons of two children lie clinging to an adult on another wall. The people here belong to the Qijia culture in Bronze Age China, which means their remains are 4,000 years old, as the earthquake hit the area around 2000 BC.

Victim shells are scattered around the room. Follow Favorite

East Pompeii

The unfortunate town of Lagia is now branded “Pompeii of the East”. Similar to Pompeii, the entire site of Lajia provides a snapshot in time due to the sudden disaster, which has preserved the artifacts and characteristics of the Neolithic village as it was at the moment of the disaster. This has allowed archaeologists a rare glimpse into the daily lives and practices of the people of the Qijia culture.

Artifacts found at the site included mirrors, stone knives, and oracle bones used for divination. The inhabitants of Lagia were first discovered in 2000 in an underground dwelling later found to be the base of a loess cave, one of several in a settlement where the dwellings consisted of caves and houses. One of the artifacts turned out to be the oldest noodles in China, made from wheat flour. The offering platform in the center of the city contained the tomb of its priest, surrounded by many jade objects.

Woman protecting a child, Lagia Ruins Museum. (china news)

Qijia culture

The Qijia culture was an early Bronze Age culture that existed in the upper Yellow River region of China from about 2200 BC to 1600 BC. Named after the site of Qijiaping in Gansu Province where the first artifacts were discovered and identified, this culture is noted for being one of the earliest civilizations in China to smelt bronze, marking an important transition period from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The Qijia culture is known for its pottery, which often has a polished black or reddish-brown inside and outside glaze. The homes of the Qijia culture were usually in part underground dig homes, and their society was most likely clan-based, with livestock an important part of their economy. The Lajia archaeological site is one of the most important sites of Qijia culture. The Qijia culture played an important role in the early development of the broader cultural and technological landscape in ancient China.

The haunting image of Lagia’s victims, frozen in the last moments of their lives, is a stark reminder of the power and unpredictability of nature. However, its preservation has provided archaeologists and historians with an invaluable opportunity to delve into the past and understand the daily lives, practices, and culture of the Qijia people from the Bronze Age. Lagia, the “Pompeii of the East,” stands today as a poignant memorial to those who died thousands of years ago and a beacon of knowledge, highlighting an important period in Chinese history.

Top photo: a woman holding a child, Lagia Ruins Museum. Source: Chinanews

By Robin Whitlock

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