SHIJIAZHUANG, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two gilt cooper silkworms dating back about 2,000 years have been discovered recently in north China's Hebei Province, local authorities said Saturday.

The two gilt silkworms were found by workers who were sorting out cultural relics in a museum in the city of Dingzhou. Experts said the two gilt silkworms date back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD).

The two bronze crafts are cylindrical, with a diameter of a pencil. The surface of the two objects was covered with a thin layer of gold, but parts of the gold had fallen off.

The two objects measure 6.1 and 7.5 centimeters in length, respectively. Their heads, tails, chests, as well as feet were well-preserved.

Du Huiping, the deputy curator of the city's museum, said the two gilded silkworms provided precious historical materials for the study of the history of sericulture and the techniques of traditional Chinese silk tapestry in Dingzhou during the Western Han Dynasty.