Grave robber looted 2,400-year-old tomb in China — but left these treasures behind
In a cemetery in central China, a grave robber started to dig. The thief tunneled into an ancient tomb, stole some artifacts and vanished. The robbery, however, was only partially successful.
When archaeologists excavated the looted tomb, they realized the robber had left some rare treasures behind.
The Taosi Relic Site and Cemetery is a massive ancient cemetery in Shanxi Province that may have as many as 10,000 tombs, according to a 2018 news release from China Archaeology Network. Excavations of the cemetery have been ongoing for years, but archaeologists have only explored a fraction of the site.
During these excavations, archaeologists uncovered a 2,400-year-old tomb that had been looted by a grave robber, according to a Jan. 21 news release from CCTV News via the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the China Archaeology Network.
The robber had entered the tomb in 2016 through a hole in one corner, the institute said. The thief stole artifacts from this corner but left most of the grave undisturbed.
Archaeologists unearthed a large number of high-quality artifacts from the 2,400-year-old tomb. They found a set of 16 chimes engraved with sayings, weapons and jade artifacts.
A photo shows some of the ancient musical instruments found in the tomb.
The tomb also contained a bronze drum base, archaeologists said. The base has a hollow shape where a drum would be inserted. Measuring about 33 inches across, the newly found base is among the largest of these types of artifacts ever found in China.
Based on the artifacts found in the 2,400-year-old tomb, archaeologists believe the tomb belongs to a high-ranking aristocrat with significant power.
Officials recovered some bronze artifacts stolen from the Taosi Cemetery in 2022, the institute said.
Taosi Relic Site and Cemetery is in Shanxi Province and about 250 miles southwest of Beijing.
Google Translate and Baidu Translate were used to translate the news release from CCTV News via the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the China Archaeology Network.
This story was originally published January 23, 2024 at 8:02 AM with the headline "Grave robber looted 2,400-year-old tomb in China — but left these treasures behind."
