Chinese archaeologists have discovered a 2,500-year old tomb
containing more than 40 coffins made of a rare wood called
nanmu, after a three-month excavation project in east
China's Jiangxi Province, local sources said
yesterday.
A tomb with that many coffins together has never been unearthed
before, said Fan Changsheng, director of the Jiangxi Provincial
Institute of Archeology.
The tomb, 16 meters long, about 11.5 meters wide, and three
meters deep, is located at Lijia Village in Jing'an County. It is
believed to date back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC).
The coffins, 2.5 to 2.8 meters long and 0.5 meters wide, were
laid out side by side in an orderly fashion. Archaeologists have
not been able to measure their height because they are still sunk
into the silt.
Archaeologists are now searching for information about the
identity of the remains, the cause of death, the burial date and
why the people were buried together, said Fan, adding that care and
sophisticated technology?are needed to open the coffins in
order to preserve the cultural relics and the remains inside.
A group of senior experts from prestigious archaeological
institutes across China have arrived at the tomb site and will open
the coffins in May.
Archaeologists began the excavation on January 6 to protect the
cultural relics after grave robbers attempted to open the rare
coffins at the tomb site.
Although the coffins were not damaged by the grave robbers, a
dozen cultural relics near the coffins vanished, local police
said.
Police have arrested the robbers, seizing cultural relics
including bronze woodworking tools, lacquered spoons, and wooden
combs.
The discovery will provide valuable clues to the study of social
customs, funeral rites, and lifestyle in the area, archaeologists
said.
(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2007)
