More than 11,000 cultural relics, which can be traced back to as early as the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.), were unearthed during the demolition of Shenzhen Nantoucheng Primary School in Nanshan District recently, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.
Archaeologists discovered nine ancient tombs during the excavation, including one from the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-220), one from the Western Jin Dynasty (266-316), three from the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), two from the Southern Dynasty (420-589), one from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and one from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), according to the report.
Sixteen house foundations, three underground caves, eight water wells, a bridle path base and more than 20 remains were cleaned.
The cultural relics that were found include pottery, porcelain, stone tools, jadeware, goldware, ironware, glassware, bone implements and copperware that date back to the Spring and Autumn Period, Han, Western Jin, Eastern Jin, Southern, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties as well as the Republic of China (1912-1949).
Artifacts and fragments found in relics and construction waste, building components, complete bricks in tombs and building components in house foundations have been collected and placed in Nantou Ancient City Museum, the report said.
Located within Nantou Ancient City, Nantoucheng Primary School was built in 1806 and is undergoing renovation.
Nantou Ancient City is said to be the root of Shenzhen’s history and can be traced back to 331 during the Eastern Jin Dynasty.