Friday, 10 December 2015. A group of Chinese archaeologists have discovered a tomb of 2,500 years that supposedly contains the skeletons of an ancient royal family, and it is believed that has its origin in the relatively unknown kingdom of Luhun, which just lasted 113 years between 638 BC and 525 BC.
This huge finding is made in the course of the excavations in the city of Luoyang, in Henan province (China), in a giant complex that houses approximately 200 burials.
It is believed that it belongs to a noble of Luhun or the King, it measures 6.5 meters long, five meters wide and 8.5 meters deep; and there they have been found copper bells, ceremonial vessels and a burial pit in which there were six chariots and thirteen complete skeletons of horses.
These horses were aligned over their sides and adorned with decorative elements. In a corner of the pit, archeologists have found numerous heads and hooves of cows and sheeps. The size and content of the tomb, that greatly exceed the tombs that surround it; suggest that it was the place of eternal rest of a royal family.
Experts believe that this burial is related to a little known kingdom named Luhun, formed by members of the Rong; a vague term referring to certain foreign that were an ethnic minority from the north-west frontier of what was then China, transition zone between a form of sedentary agricultural life and the nomadic of the steppe.
It is hoped that this tomb gives light about this period in the history of China, from which little information from chronic and historical texts. Supposedly, the population of this kingdom of Luhun, continued the tradition of burying parts of the body of their cattle in the graves in which they buried their horses; a practice that is not seen in other burials of the same period.
However, in the design of the buried objects can be seen the influence in the style of the surrounding regions during periods of Spring and Autumn (772 BC – 481 BC), demostrating that the kingdom had absorbed influences from its surroundings and the had combined with their own traditions.
The excavations made in this funeral complex, gave beginning after a wave of looting of tombs in the area. Initial investigations revealed the existence of some 200 tombs, eight graves with horses, 30 underground storages and 10 ovens. The discovery of what seems to be a royal tomb, it has been one of the most recent, and although it was detected signs of possible attempts of looting; the interior of the tomb had been protected by its coating in plaster.
ALFA