the Archaeologists during the excavation in Shaanxi province in Northwest China have discovered an ancient tomb, which was one of the biggest in the history of collections of jade objects.
according to the Agency “Xinhua”, the age of the tomb is about 2200 years. Scientists believe that it was built shortly before the beginning of the reign of the Western Han dynasty (202 BC – 8 ad) or at the beginning of her reign.
the Tomb was discovered during excavations in the provincial capital, XI’an. By the way, there is the world-famous burial with terracotta army. The tomb was part of the funerary complex. Next to her, archaeologists have found 26 ancient tombs.
According to the city Institute for protection of cultural relics and archaeology, all located near the village of Lijia area Bacao in the Eastern part of XI’an.
Special attention was drawn to the biggest of them. It clearly belonged to a senior person. A distinctive feature is a sloping passage to the burial chamber. Inside was found a variety of ritual objects.
Only the jade ware found in it, more than 2200 pieces. This is one of the largest collections of artifacts of jade ever found in the tombs in China. In addition, it was found more than 190 other items, including bronze details for chariots, pottery, terracotta statuette of a dancer, bells, and accessories made of gold and bone.
Scientists suggest that this tomb might be buried close to the Emperor Liu Han. The fact that the same complex had previously been found in the mausoleum, in which were buried not only the Emperor, but his mother and wife.
For the funerary practices of ancient China was characterized by the arrangement of “minor” tombs near the Imperial mausoleums. There was a whole system of construction of such complexes. Of course, the new facilities will help to learn more about the practice.
by the Way, a similar find was made and a week earlier in southern China, where archaeologists have excavated 65 tombs of the late Neolithic period and of the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 BCE). The objects were discovered in the area Matachewan in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The age of the oldest of them is up to 4000 years. They were discovered more than 100 cultural relics.
