Six major archaeological discoveries in 2015

Updated: 2015-12-14 07:11

By Xu Jing(chinadaily.com.cn)

A jade pendant was among the latest finds at the Haihunhou cemetery. [Photo/Xinhua]

Dazzling finds from Haihunhou cemetery

Chinese archeologists started excavating a cemetery considered as the most complete Western Han Dynasty (206BC-25AD) tomb in the capital of southeastern China's Jiangxi province since 2011. As of now, more than 10,000 precious cultural relics were unearthed including gold items, bronze vessels, iron wares, jade articles, textiles, inscribed bamboo slips and tablets, as well as other items.

Archeologists suspected that the main tomb is that of Liu He, grandson of Emperor Wu, the greatest ruler of the Western Han Dynasty, one of the most prosperous periods in Chinese history. Liu was given the title “Haihunhou” after he was deposed as emperor after only 27 days, dethroned by the royal clan because of his lack of talent and morals. Haihun is the ancient name of a very small kingdom in the north of Jiangxi.