More Than 200 Burial Mounds Found at Site Near Silk Road

TURPAN, CHINA—According to the Greek Reporter, Chinese archaeologists identified a large-scale 2,000-year-old necropolis near the Xinjiang city of Turpan during an ongoing national cultural heritage survey that is aiming to shed new light on early human life in the region. The site is spread across nearly 12,000 square yards and contains more than 200 tombs dating to the Warring States period (475–221 b.c.) and the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 b.c.–a.d. 220). These consist of either circular or square-shaped mounds built by piling up stones. Many of them contained multiple burials, suggesting that the tombs were used collectively and not for individuals. Researchers are not yet certain of the identities of the people who built and were buried in these mounds, but similar sites have been found throughout Central Asia and were commonly used by nomadic peoples. “This location was a suitable area for ancient nomadic people to live, migrate, and bury the dead,” said Ekbar Kerim, a local cultural official. The area where the discovery was made is located near the ancient Silk Road, and researchers are hopeful that the graves might help reveal new information about cultural exchanges and interactions between different societies and civilizations who traveled along the route. To read about a 2,200-year-old luxurious tomb of a Chu ruler, go to "Around the World: China."