Xi'an (CNS)--According to the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, from April of this year, archaeologists have been engaged in rescuing relics from the graves of the Qin State during the Warring States Period (475BC-221BC), in Xianyang's Poliu Village. An unknown liquid was discovered in a bronze kettle from one of the graves. Samples were sent to experts for further identification.
This uncorked bronze kettle was used to contain wine in ancient times. It is estimated that the original cork was carbonized and dropped into the vessel. The liquid inside was preserved due to the earthen cover, explained Xie Gaowen, associate researcher at the Xianyang Archaeology Institute.
It is not the first time that wine was discovered in the Central Shaanxi Plain. From March to June 2003, in an exploration of three graves of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-25AD) organized by the Xi'an Antique Protection and Archaeology Institute, 17 large bronze wares were discovered. Among them were two gilded vessels, with 26 kilograms of green liquid inside with a fragrant smell. It was later determined to be wine by the authorities. According to the experts, this over-2,000-year-old wine is by far the most well-preserved and the most in quantity ever discovered in China.
On October 30, 2009, some farmers from Jiaofang Village in Mei County dug up some flat kettles and a smoked furnace from the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC). The mysterious liquid in the flat kettle was later verified as wine, which was 200 years earlier than the wine from Western Han Dynasty.
At the end of 2010, the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeology Institute found some over-2,400-year-old wine-like liquid in a Qin State grave from the Warring States Period. Sealed in a bronze vessel, the slightly muddy liquid occupied half of the volume of the vessel and did not smell at all.
This archeological find, however, still needs to be further studied to determine whether the mysterious liquid found inside is wine of the Warring States Period, said Xie Gaowen.
