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As the years go by and archaeological remains from antiquity are gradually discovered, every time one of these is produced and made public to society, the news is always shocking, especially if behind it lies an aura of mystery or that may enclose a secondary story about it.
It has just been revealed that archaeologists discovered a new series of tombs last autumn in the ruins of Wangzhuang in central China's Henan province. These burials may have belonged to a prehistoric king judging by what was found, the coffins and the large number of funerary artefacts that have appeared.
However, there is one tomb, which seems to be the most exciting, the so-called M27, which experts say could have been the capital of a prehistoric kingdom, from the ancient Neolithic Dawenkou culture, which existed between 4000 and 2600 BC
"They are not a common settlement, but the capital of a prehistoric kingdom"
Zhu Guanghua, associate professor at Capital Normal University and lead architect of the excavation, told China Daily. "The latest discovery indicates that the Wangzhuang ruins are not an ordinary settlement, but the capital of a prehistoric kingdom," the professor said.
For his part, Li Zinwei, deputy director of the Institute of Ancient History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that "their discoveries bear witness to the early exchanges of early Chinese civilization, which evidences the nature of diversity within it. This site provides important examples for the study of cultural fusion in different prehistoric regions," he said.
The size of the tomb was already significant enough to raise these theories about its origin. At 4.5 meters long and about 3.6 meters wide, it is one of the largest of this period. In fact, the coffin is made of wood with an inner and outer container. Inside the tomb, a total of 350 funerary artifacts have been found, including almost 200 jade ornaments, bone tools, animal remains and 100 pieces of pottery. The presence of pig jaws -- the most common animal bone in the tomb -- was a symbol of wealth.
It should be noted that tomb M27 was the most outstanding find at the site, but it was not the only one, as a total of 45 tombs of the Dawenkou culture were found. "The exquisite pottery, stone tools and jade artifacts vividly demonstrate the division of labor and the level of productivity of the time," said archaeologist Liu Haiwang