A Neolithic grotto grave was recently found in Nongshan Mountain in southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, unveiling the burial secrets of the Luoyue people, ancestors of one China's largest ethnic groups, the Zhuang.

Situated in Xianhu Town in Wuming County of Nanning, the autonomous region's capital, the grave is older than three others unearthed earlier in the autonomous region, which only date back to the early years of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC).

From the 100-square-metre site, archaeologists have excavated more than 80 archeological findings, including stone implements, pottery, jade and clam ware, a few skeletons and some fossils of pandas, elephants and rhinoceros.

A wealth of stone shovels made of fine-grained shale, which is rather delicate and fragile, have also been unearthed for the first time.

With the largest shovel measuring 29 by 17 centimeters and the smallest measuring 10 centimeters long and 4.2 centimeters wide, the varying shapes and sizes have provided vital clues to the daily life and production of the ancient ethnic Luoyue people.

Noted archaeologist Li Zhen, who has taken part in the excavation, said the stone shovels go beyond the average farming tools popular in primitive digging and hoeing work, and function as ritual articles and funerary objects which might have been worshipped or deified as totems.

Of the unearthed pottery ware, there are numerous pots, axes, kettles, bowls and cups. On their surface, rope lines are engraved on most of them, while some have water wave lines and only a few have colored drawings.

Also excavated from the grave were, among others, a few clam ornaments and jade adornments which give expressions to the aesthetic views of the ancient dwellers in Guangxi and their handicraft, Li said.