Weekly snapshot of China's archaeological news

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, September 21, 2019
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BEIJING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The following are highlights of China's key archaeological news from the past week:

-- Millennium-old royal tomb found in north China

Chinese archaeologists have uncovered a royal tomb dating back around 1,000 years in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to the regional institute of cultural relics and archaeology.

The ceiling of the single-chamber tomb, found in Kailu County in eastern Inner Mongolia, is decorated with crane-patterned murals. Archaeologists also unearthed valuable burial objects such as glass and gold wares, as well as a coping stone made of two huge pieces of granite, which was likely sourced from outside the area, archaeologists said.

Based on its structure and design, the tomb was probably built in the early Liao Dynasty (916-1125) and belonged to the royal family, said Lian Jilin, a researcher at the institute, noting that the occupant has yet to be identified.

-- Ancient emperor tomb's guardian statues to get "facelift"

The giant stone statues in the imperial Xiaoling Mausoleum, the burial site of the Ming Dynasty's (1368-1644) founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, will receive their first large-scale "facelift," local authorities said Wednesday.

The 34 stone sculptures along the Sacred Avenue of the mausoleum in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, have been damaged due to combined effects of pollution, bioerosion and weathering over the past 600 years, according to the mausoleum management bureau.

-- Century-old battleships bring back unsinkable memories

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the First Sino-Japanese War, commonly known in China as the Jiawu War. A battle on the Yellow Sea broke out during the war on Sept. 17, 1894.

Earlier this month, archeologists confirmed the wreck site of the Dingyuan Battleship, a flagship vessel of the Beiyang Fleet of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), in the Yellow Sea.

The discovery came after two months of a joint underwater survey. Based on previous surveys in 2017 and 2018, archeologists used mapping and imaging technologies to survey the site and sucked out thick layers of sand to expose part of the sunken ship hull, said Zhou Chunshui, head of the survey programe.

-- Archaeologists determine age of north China prehistoric settlement

A recent analysis has validated the exact age of a prehistoric settlement in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local experts said Friday.

The carbon-14 test conducted by a U.S. laboratory showed the Simagou ruins in Huade County could date back to 9,000 years ago in the Neolithic period, according to the regional institute of cultural relics and archaeology. Enditem

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