With peculiar burying way of one on top of anther, fantastic funerary objects and its unique cultural phenomenon, the earliest relics of ancient people's life deep in Kunlun Mountains, Liushui tombs are under excavation now. The bewildering Liushui culture will be exposed to the public gradually.

Liushui tombs are located by Keliya River in Liushui Village, Yutian County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It has altogether 64 chambers. The archaeologists started excavating the tombs after the local peasants discovered it in June 2002.

Liushui tombs were built about 3000 years ago. All the large amount of funerary objects the archaeologists have found inside the chambers are in accordance with the funeral custom at the end of primitive society, such as some potteries, cylindrical lithic objects or osseous materials for necklace and some little jade cirques, etc. However, there are also a lot of well-made copper knives, copper arrowheads and copper bracelets. This technology has not been achieved until Shang Dynasty. More surprisingly, an iron knife was excavated in one of the chambers. Bronzes flourished in Shang Dynasty, and ironware has not come into common use until Han Dynasty. This iron knife made the ancient culture in Liushui cemetery more complicated and confusing.

By People's Daily Online

With peculiar burying way of one on top of anther, fantastic funerary objects and its unique cultural phenomenon, the earliest relics of ancient people's life deep in Kunlun Mountains, Liushui tombs are under excavation now. The bewildering Liushui culture will be exposed to the public gradually.

A copper knife is excavated in one of the chambers in Liushui tombs.

An osseous necklake is unearthed in Liushui tombs.

Liushui tombs are located by Keliya River in Liushui Village, Yutian County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It has altogether 64 chambers. The archaeologists started excavating the tombs after the local peasants discovered it in June 2002.

All the large amount of funerary objects the archaeologists have found inside the chambers are in accordance with the funeral custom at the end of primitive society, such as some potteries, cylindrical lithic objects or osseous materials for necklace and some little jade cirques, etc.