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Ancient Chinese burials with swords and chariot cast light on violent 'Warring States' period

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Archaeologists in China have unearthed hundreds of tombs and relics, including several bronze swords, dating from the Warring States period more than 2,200 years ago.

The tombs and artifacts were found at the Baizhuang Cemetery in the village of Dengcheng, which is part of the city of Xiangyang in China's central Hubei province.

According to a translated statement from provincial and city archaeologists, excavations in November 2023 unearthed more than 500 cultural objects, including the swords, copper tripods, ritual vessels, pottery, jade rings, lacquerware, boats and a chariot buried beside the skeletons of two horses.

The artifacts were found in 174 tombs in the cemetery that date to roughly between 478 and 221 B.C. The archaeologists also found two tombs from the time of China's Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220).

Xiangyang was part of the powerful Chu state at the time. The archaeologists hope the finds will cast light on both the period and the state itself.

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The finds were in 174 tombs from the period unearthed during excavations in 2023 at an ancient cemetery in the city of Xiangyang, in China’s central Hubei province.
The finds were in 174 tombs from the period unearthed during excavations in 2023 at an ancient cemetery in the city of Xiangyang, in China’s central Hubei province.(Image credit: Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology/Xiangyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

"This excavation provides a number of new materials for the study of funeral customs in Xiangyang area in the middle and late Warring States period, and also provides important physical materials for the study of Chu culture," the statement said.

Related: Lavish, 800-year-old tombs in China may hold remains of Great Jin dynasty elites

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