Ancient tombs, sculptures discovered in China's Inner Mongolia

HOHHOT, June 27 (Xinhua) -- A cluster of ancient tombs and six stone figure-shaped sculptures have been discovered in Xilin Gol League in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to archaeologists.

The ancient tombs unearthed in Abaga Banner are of different sizes, including a large one measuring more than 10 meters. The six stone figure-shaped sculptures discovered in the tombs are believed to be sacrificial objects.

One of the six sculptures remains relatively intact, with the head facing west and the feet to the east. The other five have varying degrees of damage, and most of them are upright and remain partially buried.

The new find is relatively close to another site unearthed in north Abaga Banner in the 1970s, consisting of a large number of stone tombs and stone figure-shaped sculptures.

Chen Haifeng, curator of the Abaga museum, said that the newly discovered sculptures have unique shapes and belong to the same family as the stone figures unearthed in the 1970s.

This new discovery not only increases the number of existing stone figures in Abaga Banner, but also provides precious materials for studying the same type of stone figures distributed in Eurasia, as well as the development of ethnic groups in northern China.