Well-preserved township relics site unearthed in SW China

Chinese archaeologists said Tuesday that they have unearthed a rare well-preserved township relics site dating back some 2,000 years in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Researchers with the Chengdu Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute and Sichuan University found the remains of houses, kilns, wells, moats, and sewage ditches as well as pottery during their excavation near Zhilu Village in the suburbs of Chengdu, the provincial capital, from June to October last year.

An unearthed double-eared pot had characters engraved on it which prove the area was a township-level site. The excavated area covers about 600 square meters. Before the excavation, the site was covered by farmland.

"It is the first time a relic has been discovered with characters proving a township-level site from the Western and Eastern Han dynasties (202 B.C.- 220 A.D.) in Chengdu," said Yang Bo, researcher in charge of the excavation.

Archeologists also found a part of the roof of a "luxury horse-drawn carriage" beside a four-meter-wide road, proving the township was once prosperous, according to Yang.

The site may have been neglected in the late years of the Eastern Han Dynasty and suffered minor damage later, he added.

Well-preserved relics sites from the Han dynasties are rare nationwide, according to archaeologists. The site at Zhilu Village is of great significance in the study of the life and production of residents and cultural development at that time, they said.