5,500-year-old cemetery excavated in China

Beijing, Nov 10 (IANS) Archaeologists have excavated a 5,500-year-old cemetery in China's Shaanxi province which is estimated to have more than 2,000 graves, authorities announced on Friday.

Covering around 90,000 sq. metres, the cemetery is to the northeast of the Yangguanzhai ruins, which belongs to a late Neolithic group known as the Yangshao that originated from the middle reaches of the Yellow River and is considered a main precursor of Chinese civilisation, reports Xinhua news agency.

The excavation of the site began in 2015 and, so far, 339 graves had been found in an area of 3,800 sq. metres, half of which have been excavated, according to Yang Liping, who is leading the project.

In some burial sites, archaeologists have found suspected traces of textile fabrics around human bones.

"There are no wooden coffins. The dead may have been wrapped in fabric when they were buried," said Yang.

Painted pottery, bone beads, hair clasps made with bones, earrings made with stone, pigments and tortoise shell have also been found in the graves.

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