Bronze ritual  vessel -- Tripod

Bronze ritual  vessels -- Ding & Gui

"The excavation of the large-scale tombs of the Western and Eastern Zhou dynasties (11th century-256 BC) is the most marvelous archaeological discovery of 2005!" These words have been on the lips of expert archeologists in China recently.

On December16th, a great number of buried articles were excavated in Liangdai Village of Hancheng City in North China's Shanxi Province, and has been regarded as further achievement on the study of this valuable Zhou Dynasty Mausoleum since the April of 2005. Among the excavations, treasured objects like bronze vessels, and jade, agate, and seashell handicrafts have been found. Experts assert that more wonders are expected to emerge with further excavation.

 Discovery

This considerable ancient mausoleum is located in Liangdai Village, 7 kilometers northeast of Hancheng City, the  hometown of Sima Qian -- a celebrated historian and man of letters in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC- 24 AD).

Since this April, the Institute of Shanxi Archeology, with the help of the Weinan Institute of Cultural Relics and the Hancheng Bureau of Cultural Tourism, has been massively researching and carefully excavating the sizable tomb complex.

Research shows that the burial site covers an area of 330,000 square kilometers, and includes 103 tombs and 17 pits that contain chariots and horses and which have yet to be unearthed. Inside the complex, the 4 largest tombs -- one in the shape of "中" and three in the shape of "甲" -- have attracted special attention. It has been concluded that the funeral objects are over 2800 years old, dating back to the late Western Zhou Dynasty.

 Seven distinguished features

According to the three well-preserved tombs that have so far been excavated in the last 30 years, experts believe that the mausoleum was the first of its kind to have been immune from grave robbers. Besides, it is inferred from the exquisite unearthed burials that the tombs are the cemeteries of dukes who lived from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256BC).

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