Beijing: Archaeologists in China today discovered a 40-meter long tomb with well preserved wall paintings dating back more than 1,200 years in the country`s northwest Shaanxi Province.
The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) tomb of a high-ranking official and his wife in Chang`an district, Xi`an City, is 11 meters deep and about 40 meters long, said Zhao Rong, head of Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Administration. The tomb was unearthed after the grave had been raided by robbers.
The murals in chamber show great skill. Excavation began in February this year, cleaning work is still underway along with measures to protect the artwork, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today Zhao as saying.
Xi`an, historically known as Chang`an, was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, including the Tang Dynasty. The Tang dynasty, founded by the Li family, was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the five dynasties and ten Kingdoms period.
