Gurugyam and Chuvthag cemeteries in Ngari prefecture, Tibet

From 2012 the 2014, the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other institutions conducted a series of excavations at the Gurugyam and Chuvthag Cemeteries in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. The Gurugyam Cemetery is the largest and the most concentrated vertical shaft pit burial cemetery found to date in Ngari, and has close relationship with the Kardung (Kyunglung Silver Palace) City Site. Chuvthag Cemetery is the first archaeologically excavated cave tomb cemetery in Ngari Prefecture; the structures of the burials were completely preserved and these burials were rich in content, providing valuable information for the reconstruction of life in the ancient Zhang-zhung Kingdom period. The discovery and study on these two cemeteries are important for establishing the sequence of archaeological cultures in western Tibet, and they also contribute to research on the Zhang-zhung Civilization