A 2,000-year-old wig has been discovered on an
entombed skeleton by archeologists in southwest China’s Sichuan
Province, Sichuan Online reported on Tuesday.
The wig dates back to years between the Warring
States Period (475-221 BC) and the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD
24), said Liu Hong, curator of a local museum in Liangshan Yi
Autonomous Prefecture.
The wig, found on the lower part of the skull, was
made of hemp rope, according to Zhang Rong, a Liangshan Museum
technician who consulted several hemp knitters in the
prefecture.
Liu said a joint archeological team sent by the
museum and Sichuan
University excavated 11 hillside tombs in Sikai District,
Zhaojue County in the Daliangshan Mountains during the past two
weeks.
The tombs, built of slate and rectangular in shape,
are typical to Liangshan and rarely found elsewhere in China.
According to the region’s ancient burial traditions, the corpses
were buried only after they were air dried, said Liu.
The identity of the tombs’ owners remains a
mystery, though some historians have assumed they were ancestors of
the Yi nationals living in the area today. "The new finding might
provide some clues to scientists who are working to unravel the
mystery," said Liu.
Besides the skeleton and its wig, the tombs also
contained many earthen pots, a few pieces of bronzeware and three
wooden rings engraved with patterns, said Tang Liang, head of the
archeological team.
(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2005)