Chinese archaeologists have unearthed large quantities of inscribed bronzeware of the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century-771 BC) in Meixian County of Baoji City, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
This fifth discovery of bronzeware in Yangjia Village since the founding of New China in 1949 was first found by local farmers on Sunday and excavation was completed by early Monday morning.
The 27 bronze pieces include a ding, an ancient cooking vessel, a pan, a pot, a calyx, a yu, a broad-mouthed receptacle for holding liquid and a gui, a kind of container for grain.
These relics are of high academic value in the study of the politics, economy and culture of the Zhou Dynasty, said archaeologists with Meixian County and Baoji City cultural relics departments.
A surprise find was a pan with a more than 350-character inscription, which is 60 characters longer than the 284-character inscription on the Shi Qiang pan-water container, which was unearthed in Shaanxi Province in 1976.
Archaeologists said the bronzeware unearthed this time could possibly have been used as sacrificial vessels during the Western Zhou Dynasty.
At present, archaeologists are sorting out these relics, so the meaning of the inscriptions could not be explained immediately.
However, they could say the discovery was of significant importance in the study of the history of the Zhou Dynasty and the ancient history and civilization history of China.
There have been continuous discoveries of precious bronzeware of Western Zhou in Baoji City, dubbed as "a land of bronzeware," over the past more than 2,000 years.
Baoji also has the only bronzeware museum in China.
(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2003)
