1,800-year-old tomb cluster found in E China

NANCHANG - Archaeologists in east China's Jiangxi province said Monday they have found a cluster of tombs dating back 1,800 years.

The cluster includes seven tombs believed to belong to one family from the Eastern Han Dynasty (24-220 AD), said Wang Shanghai, deputy chief of the provincial cultural relics and archaeological institute.

Local farmers discovered the tombs on a hill in Lingli village, Sixi township, Shanggao county, while doing agricultural cultivation work in early March, said Wang.

The institute began excavation work on the tombs on March 12 in cooperation with the county's museum, and have so far unearthed more than 100 items, such as earthenware, porcelain, silver accessories and gold rings, he said.

The tombs were arranged in an orderly fashion and their styles and grave items were all identical -- evidence that it was a family tomb cluster.

The discovery has provided vital data for the research of China's traditional familial grave customs and culture, he said.