A 1,700-year-old cemetery has been excavated along the route of the Silk Road in northwest China, according to a report in Live Science. Seven of the ten excavated tombs were large, brick structures, one of which contained carvings of mythical creatures. Four of the creatures represent different seasons and parts of the heavens, including the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the Black Turtle of the North, and the Azure Dragon of the East. Zhiyong Yu, director of the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute, said that the tombs were probably built for wealthy people, but that they had been looted in antiquity and no identifying materials remain in the burials. Analysis of the skeletal remains suggest that some of the tombs were used multiple times, however. “In ancient times, Kucha was called Qiuci in Chinese literature. It was a powerful city-state in the oasis of the Western Frontiers,” Zhiyong Yu and his team wrote in Chinese Cultural Relics. To read about looting of similar sites in China, see "Tomb Raider Chronicles."
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