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The tombs were a showcase of incredibly rare features and treasures
(Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
We know that the ancients were thorough when it came to sending their loved ones to the afterlife, but a new discovery sheds light on just how elaborate some burials could be.
Three extraordinary 1,800-year-old tombs have just been discovered in China featuring rooms, doors, windows and murals, and packed full of treasure.
The chambers are thought to date to the iconic Han Dynasty, which ruled the country between 206 BC and 220 AD.
They were unearthed by archaeologists in the eastern Chinese city of Rizhao ahead of construction work on a park, Arkeonews reports.
However, sadly, these experts weren’t the first to find the tombs: raiders had beaten them to it.
At some point over the centuries, looters uncovered at least part of the complex and largely cleared out two of the vaults.
Still, fortunately for the experts – and for antiquity itself – the third remained relatively untouched, and was filled with family treasures.
The most intact tomb appeared to have been designed for a married couple(Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
The researchers retrieved a total of 70 artefacts from the burial site, which they believe belonged to a high-status, wealthy family.
These include bronze mirrors, an iron sword and a range of ceramics.
But it’s not just these valuables that make the tombs so unique, it’s the design itself.
The chambers, accessed through passageways, were equipped with doors, windows, brick-carved arches and murals featuring floral patterns and figures, with one even containing multiple interconnecting rooms.
The third, and most intact of the trio, consisted of two rooms connected by a doorway, leading archaeologists to deduce that it was created for a married couple.
Intricate bronze mirrors were among the treasures pulled from the third tomb( Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Furthermore, miniature wooden doors and windows built into the rooms were constructed to imitate a residential style, researchers at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy said in a translated statement.
The team also discovered pieces of a carriage used to transport coffins into the tomb, describing this as an “exquisitely crafted and uncommon find.”
Equally astonishing to the experts was that two of the tombs contained inscriptions of a surname – Huan – with one holding a bronze seal bearing the name “Huan Jia” – revealing the identity of the owner.
It is extremely rare to find family names connecting tombs from this period, the researchers added.
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