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Over 2,000-year-old wooden well unearthed in China's Shanxi

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An ancient nine-sided well, bearing a wooden structure, with a history of over 2,000 years was discovered in north China's Shanxi Province, archaeologists announced Tuesday.

File photo provided by the heritage management center in Yangquan City of north China's Shanxi Province shows a piece of iron axe unearthed from a 2,000-year-old well recently found in the province. An ancient nine-sided well, bearing a wooden structure, with a history of over 2,000 years was discovered in north China's Shanxi Province, archaeologists announced Tuesday. (Heritage management center in Yangquan City/Handout via Xinhua)

The well, located 570 meters from the ancient city ruins in today's Yangquan city, was first seen during shantytown renovation in November 2019, according to the provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology.

The well is 9 meters deep and 4.5 meters wide at the mouth, archaeologists said. Timberwork dating analysis showed that the well was built and was in use from the late Warring States Period (475-221 BC) to the early Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 25).

A large number of wooden slabs and fragments were also found in the well, leading to the speculation that railings and a pavilion were in place above the well at the time.

"The nine-sided structure is quite peculiar, and the masonry technology was exquisite. Its discovery is of great significance to the masonry technology of ancient wells and research of early wooden structures," said Zheng Haiwei, deputy director of Yangquan's heritage management center.