GUANGZHOU, China: Guangzhou’s Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology claimed a large tomb dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-25 A.D.) has been discovered in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province.
A wooden coffin was put above the gravel within the tomb, constructed on the top of a hill at the Huogaidingling site in Guangzhou. An 18.6-meter-long trench surrounded the tomb.
Archaeologists have discovered a tomb believed to be the final resting place of a high-status individual from the Nanyue Kingdom. The tomb’s architectural style closely resembles a royal mausoleum in Shaoxing City in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province. This remarkable find marks the first instance of a moated tomb ever discovered in southern China. Archaeologists have found a moated tomb in south China for the first time.
Nanyue, meaning “Yue in the south” in Chinese, was a kingdom whose inhabitants were linked to those living in the Yue Kingdom, which existed before the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.).
The researchers noted the presence of closely spaced column holes surrounding the tomb, suggesting that a tower used for conducting sacrificial ceremonies once occupied this location.
Based on their field investigations, the researchers have concluded that the tomb’s characteristics and the funerary items share resemblances with those of ancient Yue nobility from Zhejiang. —Xinhua/APP
