????Chinese archaeological
workers have discovered grotto burial ruins dating back more
than 3,000 years in Liangjiang township, Wuming county of south
China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
????The workers found the ruins in a grotto
hidden deep inside another stalactite cave. After carefully
removing silt with bamboo prods, the workers lay bare human
bones, along with pottery and stoneware.
????Each piece of pottery carries well-designed
lines of ropes and shell, typical features of late New Stone
Age, and carvings on the stoneware are also exquisite, said
a member from the archaeological team.
????Judging from the quality and number
of the articles for burial, archaeological experts concluded
that the dead must have been rich when they were alive.
????Grotto burials, or simply placing the
corpse and burial articles inside a hidden natural cave, were
a common practice unique to the valleys of Hongshui, Zuojiang
and Youjiang rivers, where many of China's ethnic groups lived,
during the period from New Stone Age through to Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911), said Li Zhen, an associate research fellow with
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Team for Excavation of
Cultural Relics.
????The finding, the oldest of its kind
thus far, would be of value for studying the origin of grotto
burial, development in burial customs, especially for studying
human culture from late the New Stone Age to the Bronze Age.
????(Xinhua 03/14/2001)
