Bronze Age ruins excavated in Xinjiang   

新疆首次发现青铜时代早期遗址与墓地

记者5日从新疆文物部门获悉，新疆温泉县阿敦乔鲁遗址与墓地是新疆地区首次发现的青铜时代早期遗址与墓地。考古人员分析，这里可能是博尔塔拉河流域甚至更大范围内具有中心性质的祭祀或举行重要仪式活动场所。

Urumqi (CNS) -- Ruins and tombs from the early Bronze Age (about 1800 B.C. in China) have been unearthed in northwest China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the local cultural relic authority said on Tuesday.

The ruins of three buildings and nine slabstone tombs were excavated in Adunqiaolu, 41 kilometers west of Wenquan County. Pottery, artifacts, bronzeware and gold earrings were also found.

Survey and mapping of the site started in 2010 and trial excavation was launched in 2011. Archaeologists dug out the ruins and tombs from June to September 2012.

Along with its cemetery, Adunqiaolu is bigger and more integrated than other sites, said an expert, who added that further work will enhance studies of the Bronze Age in Xinjiang and Central Asia.