China Tomb uneaths Ancient Mass Sacrifice and artifacts

A Tomb dating back 2,500 years has been excavated containing close to 50 victims of human sacrifice. The Chinese tomb also held many precious artifacts and new insights into the ritual customs of the Confucius era.

following on from recent posts regarding the Chinese archeology excavations the following information has been adapted from the National Geographic website.

The burial chamber was constructed for the patriarch of an aristocratic family and contains 47 dead buried side by side, Xu said (A scholar at the Archaeology Institute of Jiangxi). In the tomb the excavators found gold and bronze artifacts, along with elaborate silk gowns among the dead. However the most fascinating artifacts discovered in the tomb is a black, gold, and blood-red sword inscribed with pictures of dragons. Xu described it as "the most beautiful and best-preserved sword ever found in this part of China."

But the most startling discovery was that "most of those buried had been sacrificed to accompany their master into the afterlife," said Xu. Some aristocrats arranged for the sacrifice of their servants, their concubines, or others closest to them upon their death so they could travel together into the next life, he said.

The Jiangxi tomb is "one of the most important archaeological finds from this era in this part of China," he added.

Adapted from source:(NatGeo)