Jade garments sewn with fine gold threads and jade coffins were found in a tomb recently during an excavation in Huaian Xuyi of Jiangsu province on July 15. The items signify that the tomb's owner was most likely a king, noble or other person of significance in the Western Han Dynasty.
The discovery was made during the excavation of a large-scale Han Dynasty Tomb, which has been in progress for a year in the Dayun Mountains.
The bodies of four grave robbers who died during a robbery attempt last year were found and there are rumors of much supernatural activity in the Xianren Cave next to tomb no. 8. The rumors have shrouded the more than 2,000-year-old Han Dynasty tomb in mystery. After the tomb robbery attempt, Nanjing Museum began preliminary exploration in the Han Dynasty tomb in the Dayun Mountain in February 2009 and officially launched the excavation in September 2009.
Aerial photos show that there are three large-scale tombs, one chariot pit, two weapons pits and 13 subordinate tombs in the cemetery. In the three main Han Dynasty tombs, there are wooden coffins under mounds.
Archaeologists from the Nanjing Museum told reporters that jade clothes sewn with gold threads were the best burial clothes in the Han Dynasty and they were reserved for emperors, kings and some aristocrats, while other noblemen or noblewomen could only be buried wearing jade clothes sewn with silver or copper threads.
Experts stated that they are not very certain about the identity of the dead, but can tell from the scale, form and unearthed cultural relics that the tomb might belong to a king.
Source: People's Daily Online [July 16, 2010]