21 richly furnished and 2,000-year-old royal tombs

Last week, archaeologists discovered twenty-one pit tombs with luxurious furnishings and at least two hundred artifacts from the early n. Together with a rare "pair tomb," they harken back to an ancient Han Dynasty royal burial site.

The 2,000-year-old tombs were discovered at a mountainside archaeological site near the royal tombs of the Taohualing Han ancient kingdom and today's Changsha city in Hunan county. The kingdom was founded in 203 or 202 BC during the Han Dynasty and represented the largest and mostlongest-lasting period of the Chinese empire, also known as the "First Golden Age". All the tombs date from approximately the same period.

The discovery was made by a team of archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. A total of 21 vertical tombs containing more than 200 artifacts were uncovered. One of the tombs was literally filled with pottery dating back to the Western Han Dynasty from about 200 BC to 25 AD.

Archaeologists have divided the tombs into two types: those with passages and those without. Many of the tombs have been found side by side. One tomb contained the remains of five decaying columns of a two-story tomb and a coffin in the shape of (II). According to the researchers, "this type of two-storey tomb is rarely found in Hunan province".

They found two iron artifacts, walls covered with talc and glaze or a talcum disc with a diamond pattern decorated with circles. Experts assume that the tomb was occupied by a married couple. In other graves, mostly ceramic artefacts were found. After studying all 21 tombs, archaeologists concluded that they probably belonged to "a royal family stored together in an ancient mausoleum."

The Han imperial dynasty in ancient China was founded by Liu Bang around 200 BC. Later, the Liu family took over. This dynasty was briefly preceded by the Qin dynasty and followed by the Three Kingdoms period between 220 and 280 AD, representing the tripartite division of China between the Cao Wei, Shuuan and Eastern Wu empires.

Han Dynasty tombs have been found in the past, notably at the Mawangdui site with cave burials or the pit tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan, and his wife Dou Wan. It is known that "pair graves" emerged as a form of royal burial during the late Han period, along with decoration with male and female motifs.

Roman Nemec

Sources: ancient-archeology.com, ancient-origins.net, canadatoday.nes

Photo after soil removal, the tomb hid luxurious artifacts

Han Dynasty tomb

Bi soapstone disc decorated with a diamond and circle pattern

Decorated jade burial suit of Liu Sheng and his wife Dou Wan - the first intact Han dynasty tomb discovered

A site at the foot of the mountain with 21 tombs