Ancient sites get a new life

About 400 pieces of cultural relics have been unearthed so far during the excavation of the Cao Wei tomb in Xizhu village in Luoyang. Photos by Wang Kaihao/China Daily and Zhang Xiaoli/For China Daily

An ongoing excavation of what could be the tomb of an empress in ancient China shows how such finds could be treated in the future. Wang Kaihao reports from Luoyang, in Henan province.

At the foot of Wan'an Hill, there is a large ancient tomb with heavy security and a huge protective shield temporarily built over it. The site is in Luoyang, a city in Henan province, which was the capital of 13 empires or kingdoms over two millennia of Chinese history.

It is thus commonplace for locals to see excavations for cultural relics going on at construction sites.

Nevertheless, for Shi Jiazhen, director of the Luoyang City Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, the excavation of a tomb in Xizhu village, on the southeastern outskirts of Luoyang, is one of the biggest finds in recent years.

The site was discovered by villagers who were moving their family graveyards in July 2015.