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Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
XI'AN, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) — A complex of 31 ancient tombs dating back nearly 3,000 years has been discovered in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, providing important materials for studying the political and social life of the period, archaeologists said Tuesday.
The discovered tombs are part of the Changchun Ruins and are located in Fuping County, Weinan City. Excavations began in August 2022 and are being conducted jointly by the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, the Weinan City Museum, and the Fuping County Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
Archaeologists also discovered five burial pits containing carts and horses.
Li Yanfeng, a junior researcher at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, reported that the aforementioned tombs can be divided into four categories based on their morphological features. Among them, tombs numbered M1 and M2 are considered relatively high-quality burials. Excavations yielded over 300 artifacts, including copper, jade, stone, and shell objects, as well as lacquered ware. Particularly exquisite among these are jade pendants with human and dragon motifs, jade picks, and stone gongs.
The small tombs contained only single coffins and no bronze artifacts. Researchers found only clay vessels and shell jewelry, leading to the conclusion that the tomb owners were likely commoners.
According to Li Yanfeng, by comparing the shape characteristics of ceramic and bronze artifacts and examining human bones in M1 and M2 using carbon-14 dating, archaeologists determined that the remains in the excavation area may date back to the middle to late Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC – 771 BC). The owner of Tomb M2 is a man, and it is believed he was the ruler of the settlement, while Tomb M1 was the burial place of his wife.
“Although the graves vary in rank, they are arranged in an orderly manner, reflecting the characteristics of ‘family burials’ and the ‘centralized system of public cemeteries,’” Li Yanfeng noted. -0-
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