Wednesday 29 September 2010

Bamboo slips of Han Dynasty unearthed


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At a subway construction site in Changsha, the capital city of central China's Hunan Province, a surprising discovery caused quite a stir in archaeological circles. It was a stockpile of ancient records, or bamboo slips, of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
On Thursday, over ten thousand unearthed bamboo slips were transported to archaeology institutes for protection and research. These ancient records were originally buried about 6 meters underground. On many of them, the writing is still clear and they are rich in content. Each slip measures about 23 centimeters in length and 3 centimeters in width.
Prior to their excavation, relevant departments held many rounds of conferences to discuss how to best avoid damage. According to archaeologists, some of the contents document the public security situation during the ancient Eastern Han Dynasty, about 2000 years ago.
Archaeologists also say these bamboo slips have very high value, because current unearthed bamboo slips of Eastern Han Dynasty, especially in the beginning and middle period of this dynasty, are still very rare.

Source: CNTV.CN

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