6 ancient cities, stacked on top of each other, reveal thousands of artifacts in China
Excavations of an ancient Chinese city unearthed large carved stone murals, a bridge and thousands of other artifacts.
Archaeologists announced their findings from four years of work at the Zhouqiao relics site in Kaifeng, China Daily reported, citing a Sept. 28 news release from China’s Cultural Heritage Administration.
Buried deeper and deeper in the ground, researchers found six ancient cities stacked on top of each other, People’s Online Daily reported. The cities had been covered by mud and sand when the nearby Yellow River flooded.
Bridges, waterways, temples, houses, roads, walls and shipwrecks — dating back to 780 AD — reemerged with the archaeologists’ excavations, Xinhua News Agency reported. The layered cities held more than 60,000 artifacts.
But one set of artifacts dominated all the rest: a pair of stone murals.
The stunningly carved stone murals date back to the Song Dynasty (960 to 1276) and are the largest of their kind ever found in China, China Daily reported. Archaeologists found murals on the north and south riverbanks, CCTV International reported.
Each mural is over 10 feet tall and almost 100 feet long — and there’s more to excavate, Xinhua News Agency reported. Researchers expect the murals will be about 330 feet long when fully uncovered. So far, seahorses, cranes, clouds, and other symbolic imagery have been revealed on the stone slabs.
Other findings at Zhouqiao included pottery, porcelain, gold and jade, China Daily reported.
Kaifeng is about 525 miles northwest of Shanghai.
Google Translate was used to translate articles from China Daily, People’s Online Daily and CCTV International.
This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 1:01 PM with the headline "6 ancient cities, stacked on top of each other, reveal thousands of artifacts in China."
