3,000-yr-old rare coffins discovered in China

In a rare find, three sets of well- preserved coffins made of cypress wood, believed to be buried 3,000 years ago, have been discovered in China's central Henan Province, state media reported today.
They were unearthed yesterday and taken to a museum in Anyang city, according to local archaeological officials.
Last month, a villager in Anshang's Neihuang County discovered ancient tombs while digging in a brick kiln. He uncovered bronze items as well as human and animal bones 10 meters deep underground.
Following a preliminary excavation, experts from the Anyang institute of cultural relics and archeology found 22 tombs from the late Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC), the second in China's history.

They retrieved three sets of inner and outer coffins made of cypress wood from the tombs, as well as a single coffin.
In ancient times, Chinese people used an outer coffin to protect the inner coffin.

Kong Deming, head of the institute, told the state-run Xinhua news agency that it is rare to see such well-preserved coffins from the Shang Dynasty.
"It is a family burial place. The owners were affluent people, possibly aristocrats," he said.
He noted that the discovery might help archaeologists learn more about Shang Dynasty burial customs and understand cultural development.
The excavation could also be helpful in geological studies since the coffins were buried so deep, Kong said.

The Shang Dynasty capital was once in Shangqiu, Henan and later moved to Anyang, where ruins of the old city were discovered in the early 1900s in one of China's oldest and largest archaeological sites.