Guangzhou (CNS) -- The Guangzhou Institute for Archaeology and Cultural Relics announced its recent findings of the two brick-chambered tombs from the Southern Dynasties (420AD – 589AD) and the Southern Han Dynasty (917AD - 971AD) near a disposed cast tube factory on Xiwan Road, August 1.
The tombs have been completely preserved in structure. Moreover, the discovery also unearthed the first and only land coupon from the Southern Han Dynasty in the area of Guangzhou.
The Southern Dynasties tomb is by far the largest in scale among all tombs discovered from that time in the region.
Another tomb from the Song Dynasty (960AD – 1279AD) was found inside the Southern Han one.
The land coupon is the most precious finding of this discovery, said archaeology expert Yi Xibing. Made of talc, it was carved 99,999.9999 in the currency of that time. The tomb master, surnamed Liu, died around 960AD.
"The discovery is rather significant for the studies on the Southern Han Dynasty tombs and history, because it was the first time that a land coupon from the Southern Han Dynasty had ever been unearthed and a brick-chambered tomb was exactly identified from that era."
Since the 1950s, precious findings have been reported frequently in the region. This implies that the area was intensively used as a burial site.
So far, over 200 tombs have been discovered, from the Western Han Dynasty (206BC – 25AD) to the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 (est.1616)). It is a common phenomenon that a tomb was built on the base of another from another era.
In addition, rare relics have been occasionally discovered, such as copper coins from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25AD – 220AD).
