Archaeologists said yesterday that they have discovered a group of tombs dating back nearly a thousand years at a highway construction site in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

Experts from the municipal archaeological and cultural relic institute said most of the tombs were built during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and that the discovery provided "important tangible evidence" for the study of the area's culture and traditions including historical funeral customs.

The excavation began in June and 13 tombs, including several for couples, and cultural relics have been found at the site at Luohan Village in Tonglan County, said Cao Kuanning, leader of the archaeologist team.

He declined to give more information about the recovered relics, but said the site also included Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasty tombs, "providing us with a perfect 'lab' to study differences in funeral traditions of the three dynasties."

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2005)