Over 2,000-year-old tomb excavated in central China

Chinese archaeologists have unearthed a large tomb, possibly the grave of a noble person, dating back more than 2,000 years, in the central province of Hunan.

The tomb could belong to the queen of an eminent Changsha King appointed by an emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), archaeologists from Changsha Archaeology Research Institute cited initial study as saying.

Located in Wangcheng county of Changsha, the provincial capital, the tomb is 30.3 meters long and 14.8 meters wide, with high-quality construction techniques and design. The tomb is larger than the Mawangdui Tomb, which is famous for the preserved 2,000-year-old woman's corpse, also excavated in Changsha, experts said.

The coffin chamber of the tomb is divided into a major room and two side rooms. The side rooms are again each divided into three small ones for housing different goods, such as copper coins, cooking and drinking utensils, and pottery ware.

Archaeologists unearthed more than 200 relics from the tomb, such as golden, silver and bronze ware, silk fabric and paraffin products. Among these relics are two well-preserved Yubi, a round flat piece of jade with a hole in it, each with a diameter of 28.3 cm and 17.4 cm. They also found a 18.5-cm-long Gui, an elongated pointed tablet of jade held in the hands by ancient rulers on ceremonial occasions.

The most noticeable among the unearthed relics is the remnant of a jade suit sewn with gold thread, said He Xuhong, head of Changsha Archaeology Research Institute.

Judging from the characters carved on lacquer cups and dishes, the tomb belongs to a queen surnamed Zhang, He said, adding that they failed to find anything to prove the date when the queen lived.

Experts said that relics unearthed from the tomb was of great value in the study of the economy, culture and social development of the Western Han Dynasty, experts said.

The tomb was robbed in the past, leading to serious damages to relics, He said.

Source: Xinhua