The Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Administration announced on Monday the discovery of a grandiose village that has been dated to the West Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25) era. Experts say the village was submerged more than 2,000 years ago when the Yellow River burst its banks in a flood.

"This is an absolutely exciting find," remarked Xu Pingfang, chairman of the Chinese Society of Archaeology and expert in the Han (206 BC-AD 220) and Tang Dynasty (618-907) archaeology.

"The Sanyangzhuang archaeological site presents us with a vivid description of Han Dynasty society, especially of its vast countryside, which has not been well recorded in literature," Xu said.

The remains of the village were discovered along the ancient course of the Yellow River in Sanyangzhuang Village, Neihuang County, Henan Province. Experts have compared the discovery to the unearthing of the lost ancient city of Pompeii.

After two years of prospecting and excavating, seven courtyards have been identified. Excavation work on four of the seven courtyards have unearthed a wealth of relics including tiled roofs, walls, wells, toilets, cropland and trees, together with items that could shed some light on social and economic structures of the time.

Like Pompeii, the Sanyangzhuang Village was preserved intact. Life, as it were, stood still. The layout of courtyards, roads, farmland where crops were growing, and the walls of various buildings remain standing. Tiles, round ones and flat ones, were found in what is believed to be their original positions on the roofs after the walls collapsed. So, too, were articles for daily use such as stone and metal items and pottery apparently abandoned by families trying desperately to escape the flood.

In one courtyard, excavations reveal that the master room was undergoing maintenance when the flood hit, putting an unexpected end to the work. Unused flat tiles lay in heaps, together with abandoned construction materials and a puddling pit.

"This kind of archaeological finding is extremely rare," according to Sun Yingmin, vice director of the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Administration.

Also excavated were large areas of farmland, still intact, on which crops were grown. Experts said this provides first-hand material evidence for research into agricultural systems and the economy of the Han Dynasty.

(China.org.cn by Wind Gu, February 23, 2006)