China: 5000 yr old jade vessel recovered from tomb

Beijing, Jun 13: Archaeologists have found ancient jade vessels in a tomb dating back five thousand years in China, which represents the last Neolithic jade culture of Yangtze River Delta of the country.

The tomb, found in the cities of Haining and Xiaoshan, is the deepest tomb ever found in Zhejiang province.

Located near Haining, tomb number 5 is 3.3 meters long from north to south and nearly half a meter across, east to west.

According to Fang Xiangming, research of Zhejiang Archaeology Research Institute, "It's rare to find such a large and well-preserved tomb. The depth of the NO.5 tomb is 1.1 meters. It's the deepest tomb found in the Jiaxing area. It's a big discovery judging by the tomb's size and the rich variety of the antiques found in it."

A piece of jade 'Yue', a kind of ancient weapon in China, reveals the noble identity of tomb number one's owner.

He may have been the head of a tribe whose members were under his control.

Also in Zhejiang province, antiques dating back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties about 5,000 years ago have been discovered in Xiaoshan. The site is near Mianquan Mountain on the Puyang River.

It's also where some precious ancient pieces of porcelain were found in two thousand and seven and eight. The exact age of these findings still needs to be confirmed.

An archeological team is now carrying out excavation work there for the next two months.

ANI