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Ancient Tombs of Royal Standard
Discovered in Shaanxi
PKU NEWS
http://ennews.pku.edu.cn/news.php?s=86054911
A large-scale tomb group of the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century B.C.- 771 B.C.)
was discovered at the Zhougong Temple site in Qishan County in northwest China's
Shaanxi Province, Chinese archaeologists said on May 25.
"Judging from the scale of the tombs, the owner might be somebody of high rank, a
duke, a prince, or even a king of the Western Zhou Dynasty," said Lei Xingshan,
associate professor with the School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking
University, who participated in the archaeological excavation at the Zhougong
Temple site. "However, no evidence shows that it is the tomb of the king of the
Western Zhou Dynasty," Lei said.
Located at the southern side of Qishan Mountain, the tomb group covers an area of
some 80,000 square meters. By May 25, 12 tombs had been unearthed at the site.
Among them, seven tombs have four tomb passages, one has three tomb passages,
one has two tomb passages and one has just one tomb passage. The major passage
of a tomb is as long as 30 meters with a coffin chamber covering an area of some 80
square meters.
"It is much larger than all the other tombs of the Western Zhou Dynasty ever
discovered in China, and even the tomb of an ordinary royal cannot compare with it.
So, the owner of the tombs may be a high-ranking official of the royalty including
Zhougong, the icon the Zhougong Temple commemorates," said Lei.
The excavation at the Zhougong Temple site, cooperatively made by the Shaanxi
Archaeological Research Institute and Peking University, started in February. Since
then a large-scale investigation and excavation was made in the region around the
Zhougong Temple.
Edited By : Chen Hong
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