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China's top-10 archaeological finds of 2015

Author  :       Source  :    CCTV.com     2016-05-18

The tomb of a deposed Han-dynasty emperor, a battleship that made a valiant last stand against the Japanese navy, and tools used by mankind a million years ago have just been selected among China’s top 10 archaeological finds of 2015.

This year’s shortlist has an unusually large number of pre-historical finds, with six dating from the Neolithic era. Xu Guangji, of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, highlights one such site in southwest China’s Yunnan province.

“There are some great finds from the Stone Age. They include wooden tools used almost a million years ago—a first for China, even for the world,” Xu said.

The 2,000-year-old tomb of Liu He, or "Haihunhou", the deposed Han-dynasty emperor.

  

  The battle-cruiser ship 'Zhiyuan' made a heroic last stand against the Japanese navy more than a century ago.

Archaeologists believe wood was a widely used material for tools during that age, but it is very rare to find intact examples today. So the wooden items discovered in Yunnan are a key reference point in the study of bamboo and wood culture in Southeast Asia.

Another site on the shortlist is a 5,000-year-old dam system regarded as the world’s earliest large-scale water-conservancy project.

“A system of flood control, water drainage, and supply is necessary for any city. And this one is considered the earliest so far, at least earlier than the famous water-conservancy system built by Dayu. That one was only recorded in documents, but this one is real. It has a history of almost 5,000 years, which is an important discovery,” Xu said.

Other sites in contention include the 2,000-year-old tomb of Liu He, or “Haihunhou,” the deposed Han-dynasty emperor, which has set the archaeological world alight; the battle-cruiser ship “Zhiyuan,” which made a heroic last stand against the Japanese navy more than a century ago; and the discovery of the north wall of the ancient Sanxingdui city in Sichuan province.

The institutions represented among the judges include the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Chinese Institute of Archaeology, Peking University, and the Palace Museum in Beijing.

 

  

  

Editor: Yu Hui

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