2,000-Year-Old Tombs Discovered in Central China

News September 12, 2019

SHARE:

LINGBAO, CHINA—Xinhua reports that more than 70 ancient tombs were discovered in central China during road construction. Many of the tombs were clustered in family groups, according to researchers from the Sanmenxia Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, who said the tombs’ structural characteristics and the style of the artifacts suggest they date to the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.A.D. 220). Among the artifacts recovered were ceramic, bronze, and iron objects, as well as the seal of one of the tomb owners. To read about a silk topographic map recovered from the tomb of a Han Dynasty general, go to “Mapping the Past: Han Dynasty Map.”  

  • Features July/August 2019

    Place of the Loyal Samurai

    On the beaches and in the caves of a small Micronesian island, archaeologists have identified evocative evidence of one of WWII’s most brutal battles

    Read Article
  • Letter from England July/August 2019

    Building a Road Through History

    6,000 years of life on the Cambridgeshire landscape has been revealed by a massive infrastructure project

    Read Article
    (Highways England, courtesy of MOLA Headland Infrastructure)
  • Artifacts July/August 2019

    Bronze Age Beads

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Carlos Odriozola)
  • Digs & Discoveries July/August 2019

    You Say What You Eat

    Read Article
    (Courtesy David Frayer, University of Kansas; Karin Wiltschke-Schrotta, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien)