Three sets of well-preserved coffins from China’s second dynasty have been unearthed in central Henan province, a report said on Tuesday.
Kong Deming, Head of the Anyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology disclosed this to newsmen.
Deming said that the coffins, believed to be from the late Shang Dynasty (1600 BCE – 1046 BCE), were retrieved from 22 underground tombs and taken to a museum in Anyang City.
“It is a family burial place, the owners were affluent people, possibly aristocrats,’’ Deming told newsmen.
The tombs were discovered in March when a villager in Neihuang County was digging to make a brick kiln.
The report said that at the 10 metres underground, he found bronze items and human and animal bones.
Kong said the discovery might help archaeologists to learn more about Shang burial customs and ancient China’s early cultural development. (dpa/NAN)