(ORDO NEWS) — 14 tombs dating back to the period between the Eastern Han (25-220 AD) and Tang (618-907 AD) dynasties have been discovered by archaeologists in the city of Leiyang, Hunan Province in Central China.
According to the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, scientists have excavated 8 tombs in the complex and found more than 130 relics, including ceramics, porcelain and bronzes.
Six of the Eastern Han Dynasty tombs are brick tombs, three of which may have contained members of the same family, said Chen Bin, head of the archaeological team at the institute.
In addition, 4.5 meters west of the back wall of the largest tomb, archaeologists also discovered a circular moat about 0.9 meters wide, almost 15 meters long and about 0.1 meters deep.
“It must have served as the border of the family cemetery, which testifies to the strong territorial character of the tombs of that time,” he stressed.
“These excavations are of great importance for further understanding of the burial customs of the Chinese who inhabited the south of Hunan Province, as well as the level of economic development and cultural exchanges of that period,” Chen concluded.
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