Relics found in ancient burial pits last month have been hailed
as among the greatest archaeological finds in 2005.
Articles unearthed from the site in Hancheng city in northwest
China's Shaanxi
Province date back to the Zhou Dynasty of about 3,000 years
ago.
They include more than 600 items of bronzeware, as well as rare
gold items and lacquer ware, according to Shaanxi archaeological
sources.
Excavation leaders said they will resume the search in February
after the Spring Festival and hope to make further discoveries.
"The findings so far may help rewrite historical records," said
Jiao Nanfeng, director of Shaanxi Archaeology Research
Institute.
He told China Daily the finds were the most important
archaeological event in Shaanxi and one of the most significant
throughout the whole country in 2005.
"The ancient Zhou's tombs we found were well protected," Jiao
said.
"The hosts of the tombs are believed to be high-ranking
officials in ancient times. The relics unearthed from the tombs
provide precious materials for research on the period of Zhou
Dynasty as it is the first time treasures like this have been
unearthed."
In October, 2004, Hancheng Municipal Tourism Bureau, with help
from local residents, located the large-scale ancient tomb group in
Liangdai Village, about 7 kilometers northeast from the city.
With approval by Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau and
the State Heritage Administration, excavation on the sites started
in April last year, said Sun Bingjun, head of the excavation
team.
After an eight-month effort, archaeologists found that the total
area of the tombs group was about 33.3 hectares, which comprised of
103 tombs and 17 pits buried with bronze horses and chariots, Sun
said.
"From the four major large tombs themselves and rare treasures
unearthed from them, we believe that the tombs belong to the dukes
in late Western Zhou (11th century-771 BC) and early Eastern Zhou
(770-256 BC). Since 1974, we have not found such old and
high-ranking ancient tombs that had not suffered from robbing."
Archaeologists said that the finds are of great significance for
research into the political and economic systems and funeral
customs of the Zhou Dynasty.
They even conflict with China's first historical records book
written by Sima Qian in Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) because
it said that the area where the newly-found ancient tombs are
located was the duke land of Liang, said Chen Jiangfeng, an expert
with Shaanxi Archaeology Research Institute.
"From the characters on the unearthed bronzewares, we learned
that the host of the major tombs is believed to be duke of Rui, and
the city now known as Hancheng was the land of Rui, not the land of
Liang," Chen said.
However, other archaeologists say the hosts of the tombs cannot
be defined at present, and more information is needed for
confirmation.
(China Daily January 4, 2006)
