Posted on 01/09/2006 10:37:28 AM PST by blam
Over 4,200 Cliff Tombs Found in W. China City
2006-1-10 1:06:53
CRIENGLISH.com
More than 4,220 cliff tombs have been spotted at 680 sites in Shangluo, a city in western China's Shaanxi Province, local archaeologists said Monday.
The cliff tombs have large spaces and various conformations and are scattered at a 160-km-long belt joining DanJiang Valley in the east and the Qianyou River in the west, said scientists with the provincial archeological research institute.
According to Yang Yachang, a researcher with the institute, most of the single-room tombs are erect stone caves in rectangle shapes and are three meters deep, while the multi-room tombs are flat and carved with kitchen ranges, wells, toilets and shrines.
Dozens of short remarks inscribing the owner's names and the title of an emperor's reign were also found in the tombs.
Meanwhile, one cliff painting and eight basso-relievo of human faces or beast heads were also discovered.
(Source: Xinhua)
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Maybe the "multi-room tombs are flat and carved with kitchen ranges, wells, toilets and shrines." are really apartments for grieving relatives or tomb caretakers.
Even the Pharoahs didn't contemplate taking all the modern conveniences with them into the afterlife.
Fascinating! Ancient China is interesting. There are many things we don't know about China.
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