#qingtang ruins

[archaeologicalnews]

China confirms oldest tomb with "squatting" owner

GUANGZHOU  -- Chinese archaeologists have identified a tomb within which a young woman has been squatting for 13,500 years.

The tomb, part of the Qingtang ruins in southern China's Guangdong Province, hosts a female aged between 13 and 18, who was placed in a squatting posture with her head missing for unknown reasons.

It has been confirmed as the oldest tomb found in China whose owner's body was deliberately placed in a specific posture, said Liu Suoqiang, who heads the Qingtang ruins excavation project.

Apart from the squatting posture, the discovery of burial items, including a bone pin, inside the tomb suggests burial practices at that time already followed a set of procedures and rituals, said Liu, a senior researcher with the Guangdong Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology. Read more.