Excavations at Haihunhou cemetery enter experimental stage

Archaeologists are making their last preparations for packing the main coffin at the site, covering it with paper and other materials.[Photo/IC]

The sensational Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 25 AD) cemetery, Haihunhou, discovered in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi province, will soon be ready for the experimental stage of archeology.

Archaeologist are making their last preparations packing the main coffin in the site, covering it with paper and other materials after preparing it for removal. The whole packed main coffin weighs 4 tons and it will be lifted on January 12, bringing the archaeological process into the experimental stage.

The Haihunhou cemetery is located a kilometer from the nearest village in Nanchang. It covers some 40,000 square meters with eight tombs and a chariot burial site with walls that stretch for almost 900 meters. The site was first discovered in November and it is considered the most complete cemetery of the Western Han Dynasty.