What could only be described as an ancient business card was one of the artifacts retrieved from a 1,700-year-old tomb that was discovered at a construction site in east China's Jiangxi Province.

The wooden business card, or name plaque, helped archaeologists to identify as the person buried in the tomb as a Lei Tiao Poyang, according to Fan Changsheng, director of Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Archeology.

It is 3.2 cm wide, 24.7 cm long and 0.7 cm thick, Fan said. A similar name plaque was also discovered in the tomb, but archaeologists could not discern what was written on it.

The plaques are among the 50-plus relics found in the tomb, which was discovered at a construction site at Nanchang Railway Station.

The cache includes nine pieces of lacquer work, 10 pieces of bronze ware, 12 pieces of porcelain and 24 pieces of wood ware.

The relics were of a high quality indicating a booming economy during the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420), Fan said.

It also provides evidence that China's economic center was already gradually moving south of the Yangtze River during the Jin Dynasty, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386 - 589), Fan said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2006)