Ancient tomb unearthed in E. China

The unearthing of the ancient tomb in Yishui County, in Shandong Province, is revealing more clues about who is buried there. But as more objects are excavated, will archaeologists be able to confirm the gender and status of the tomb owner? Let's see what the latest discoveries are. 

The excavated tomb in Yishui County, in Shandong Province [Credit: Xinhua]

The overall structure of this tomb clearly shows two cases of funeral objects placed in the northern and southern sides of the main burial chamber. Bronze wares discovered in the two cases include an ancient cooking vessel, jade dagger-axes and other bronze wares. All these items indicate nobility. 

Prof. Ren Xianghong, Shandong University, said, "We have discovered a great number of daily necessities, such as huge exquisite water containers, cookers, wine vessels. This is unusual." 

However, it is still hard to determine the gender of the tomb owner, archaeologists say. 

In the course of cleaning up the northern case, archaeologists have found some lady's belongings such as dressing cases as well as weapons like bronze swords and arrowheads. This has caused confusion over the gender and status of the tomb's owner. 

Prof. Ren said, "We have excavated from the earth not only bronze swords, but also arrowheads, which are a type of long-distance destructive weaponry." 

Although archaeologists believe this tomb most likely belongs to a king or queen of a vassal state of the emperor, the weapons and feminine objects make the mystery of the tomb even harder to solve. 

Source: CNTV [April 20, 2012]