CHANGSHA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Since July, archaeologists have excavated 43 ancient tombs, including 13 brick and 30 earth-pit tombs, unearthing over 270 pieces of pottery, bronze, iron, and silverware, in the Wuliping ancient tomb complex in central China's Hunan Province.

This tomb complex is a large-scale tomb cluster mainly composed of tombs from the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) and Jin Dynasty (265-420), said Chen Bin, head of the Wuliping project of the provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology.

From 2012 to 2021, 527 ancient tombs were excavated in the complex, spanning from the early Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 25) to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), added Chen.

Of the 43 newly excavated tombs, six date back to the late Warring State Period (475-221 BC), which is the first discovery of tombs in the Chu State in the Period in Lanshan County, Hunan.

All six tombs, discovered at the top of a low hill in Wuliping Village, were rectangular vertical pit tombs. Pottery, bronze, iron, talc, and lacquered wood wares were also unearthed.

The six tombs are all small-sized, and the funerary objects are of low grade and believed to be tombs of common people, said Chen. These tombs will provide significant archaeological materials for studying the southward movement of the Chu people and the cultural exchange between the Chu and Yue states in the Warring State Period, Chen added.