Archaeologists find ancient tombs, house foundations in northeast China

SHENYANG, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists have unearthed 10 tombs and the foundations of eight houses dating back to a period spanning from the Wei Kingdom (220-265) to the Jin Dynasty (265-420) in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The Liaoning provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology made these discoveries at the Quying cemetery in Yingkou City.

The excavation, initiated in July, also unveiled four ash pits, a kiln site, a well, and over 100 artifacts.

According to Su Junqiang, an associate research fellow at the institute, the relics suggest that this site was once a residential area.

Notably, the artifacts, including pottery fragments adorned with grid-like polished dark patterns and engraved water ripple motifs, exhibit distinctive characteristics of the culture of Yan states during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304-439), a culture in Liaoning but seldom identified in the region.

This discovery carries academic significance in shedding light on the distribution of ethnic groups and their cultural interactions in the Liaodong Peninsula during the period.

In 1972, an archaeological team conducted excavations at the Quying cemetery before it was designated as a city-level cultural heritage protection unit by the Yingkou municipal government in 1984.