Large Ancient Tomb Estimated to Be 2000 Years Old Discovered in Guangzhou, China

A large ancient tomb estimated to date back 2,000 years to the Namyue Kingdom era has been discovered in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.

According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 20th, the Guangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology uncovered the large tomb through excavation work starting in September in the Huogaidingling area, a site from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The tomb covers a total area of 700㎡ and consists of a moat 18.6 meters long and a wooden coffin, among other features.

Additionally, the tomb is believed to belong to a person of high social status in the Namyue Kingdom, as its architectural style is similar to royal tombs in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, eastern China.

This is the first time Chinese archaeologists have discovered a tomb with a moat in southern China.

Ancient Tomb Site Discovered in Guangzhou
Photo by Yonhap News

Researchers inferred that there was once a building for rituals around the tomb, as densely distributed post holes were found nearby.

The characteristics of the tomb and the burial goods contained within are known to be similar to those of nobles from the Yue (越) state during the Spring and Autumn period.

The Namyue Kingdom existed for 93 years across five generations from 203 BCE to 111 BCE, spanning southern China and northern Vietnam, and is closely related to the people who lived in the Yue state before the Qin (秦) dynasty (221 BCE?207 BCE).

The archaeological community expects this discovery to greatly aid the study of ancient Yue culture, from the Taihu area, a freshwater lake on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, through the Yangtze River Delta, and extending to northern Vietnam.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.