58 treasure-filled tombs unearthed in China. Look inside the 1,100-year-old burials
CORRECTION: The province where the tombs were found was misidentified in an earlier version of this story. The tombs were in Shanxi province.
The corrected story is below.
Carefully laid to rest and surrounded by precious artifacts, a couple’s tomb in northern China remained undisturbed for centuries. Nearby sat dozens of other tombs, each one carefully crafted, prepared to stand the test of time.
Ahead of a planned construction project, archaeologists in the Zhijiabao Village of Shanxi province unearthed a millennium-old cemetery, the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a Feb. 20 news release via China News Network.
The cemetery dated to the Tang dynasty, the release said. The Tang, or T’ang, dynasty lasted from 618 to 907 A.D., according to Britannica.
Archaeologists uncovered 58 tombs from the middle and late Tang dynasty in Zhijiabao Village. The well-preserved burials varied in design but were primarily small and medium-sized earth cave tombs.
Some burials had a concave shape where the deceased’s coffin would be placed. Others had steps leading down to the main chamber. The tombs primarily took rectangular, trapezoidal or irregular shapes.
Researchers found burials of individuals, couples and larger groups, the release said.
A stone epitaph from one tomb dated the burial to 795 A.D., archaeologists said. Another epitaph contained references to the year 810 A.D. Photos show the stone carvings ringed with the twelve symbols of the Chinese zodiac.
Inside the only single-chamber stone tomb, archaeologists found a husband and wife buried side by side, the release said. The circular tomb had passageways, corridors, a main chamber and a smaller auxiliary chamber where the coffin of a young woman was unearthed.
Over 300 artifacts were found at the 1,100-year-old cemetery. These treasures included tower-shaped pots, numerous bronze mirrors and several yellow and white-glazed jugs.
The tower-shaped pot was an elegant and elaborate artifact, photos show. Its flared base tapers into a shaft with a knob in the middle before flaring outward into a large bulb.
The bronze mirrors had become discolored over time, appearing blue-ish green, photos show. Circular in their design, some mirrors had an almost flower-like edge.
The cemetery and its artifacts illuminated the funerary culture present in the Tang dynasty, archaeologists said.
Zhijiabao Village is near Datong City in Shanxi Province and about 220 miles northwest of Beijing.
Google Translate and Baidu Translate were used to translate the news release from the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 9:52 AM with the headline "58 treasure-filled tombs unearthed in China. Look inside the 1,100-year-old burials."
