The excavation of 93 ancient tombs at the No. 2 Ruins in Zhangduo Village under Xingtai's jurisdiction in China's Hebei Province finished a few days ago, and the relics have been checked and accepted by the provincial cultural relics bureau. These precious cultural relics show modern people the lives of ancient people over 2,000 years ago.
An archaeological team discovered 104 ancient tombs at the No. 2 Ruins in Zhangduo Village under Xingtai's jurisdiction in 2009, and the purpose of this archaeological activity was to ensure the smooth progress of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project.
In early 2010, the archaeological team conducted a second investigation into the No. 2 Ruins, which has been renamed "Cemetery in Southern Zhangduo," at the request of the Hebei Cultural Relics Bureau and unearthed 93 ancient tombs.
Li Jun, team leader in charge of the archaeological excavation, introduced the cultural relics excavated from the 93 tombs to the reporter.
The relics include more than 260 pieces of earthenware, such as pots, bottles and bowls, which are kept in two divided sections of a 10-square-meter room and placed in different groups according to their shapes.
"The earthenware are all from the 93 tombs and were produced between the Warring States Period and the Western Han Dynasty (over 2,000 years ago)," Li said. "The relics were unearthed from the tombs of two ancient families and thus are placed in two divided sections."
Li said that people more than 2,000 years ago in China thought life after death was the same as when they were alive, so they buried some small utensils in tombs.
"The ancient people used small pots and jars to store or cook food, while the relatively taller jugs were used for storing liquor. These relics display the lives of ancient people," he said.
Source: People's Daily Online [August 27, 2010]