Discoveries Inside an Ancient Tomb Leave Archaeologists Astonished.
The incident occurred in 2013 during the dredging of a canal in Dai Cu village, located in the An Ding town of Beijing, China, where villagers encountered an unexpected situation.
The issue began when the village canal became dry due to sediment blockage. The village chief mobilized the locals to clear it out, even bringing in an excavator to expedite the process. Suddenly, while dredging in the middle of the canal, the excavator hit something. The impact created a large hole, approximately 2 meters in diameter. Curious onlookers peered down and saw only a few brick walls below.
Someone shouted, “It seems something is moving down there!” Operations were immediately halted. It turned out that a dozen live catfish had floated out from the hole. Everyone was astonished, wondering how long they had been living in the ancient tomb.
The ancient tomb discovered during canal dredging. (Photo: Kknews).
Some villagers, curious to catch the catfish, climbed down to investigate. To their surprise, not only did they catch fish, but they also found several ceramic statues. They immediately stopped and the village chief reported to the local police.
A team of archaeologists from the Beijing Cultural Relics Research Institute was dispatched to the site. They deployed several pumps that operated at full capacity for nearly a day and night to drain all the water from the tomb.
Inside the ancient tomb, experts discovered a total of 15 ceramic statues, 5 ceramic jars, 20 ceramic bowls, and one bronze mirror. However, they could not find any inscriptions or documents to verify the identity of the tomb’s owner. Based on the tomb’s design and the age of the artifacts, experts concluded that this tomb dates back to the Han Dynasty, approximately 2,000 years old.
Upon thorough examination, archaeologists noted that this ancient tomb was quite large, comparable to the mausoleums of the Han royal family.
Unexpectedly, while cleaning up, villagers informed the archaeological team that not far from the ancient tomb, there was a field that never retained water, regardless of heavy rainfall or strong flows from the canal. Everyone was curious about where the water from the field had drained away.
Archaeologists found numerous ceramic items inside the ancient tomb. (Photo: Kknews).
Archaeologists quickly organized another excavation within a 50-meter radius of the rice field.
The results were astonishing, revealing a large number of ancient tombs discovered beneath the ground in this area. Due to the overwhelming number of ancient tombs, excavation work is still ongoing.
Later, older villagers brought in many ancient documents. Experts found information indicating that Dai Cu village was previously part of the Yan territory, guarded by princes. Therefore, the ancient tombs discovered are likely those of Han royalty from that era.
