Archeologists have unearthed an ancient tomb in the northwestern China province of Shaanxi that is believed to have belonged to a military officer about 1,700 years ago in the Western Jin Dynasty.

The tomb, with well-preserved gates and aisles leading to two chambers in the front and at the back, was found in a high school attached to Xianyang Normal College in Xianyang city, which is in proximity of the provincial capital Xi'an.

The wooden coffin in the front chamber is partly decayed, but the lime on its echelon bottom is still around, according to Xie Gaowen, associate researcher with the Xianyang Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archeology.

From what is left of the coffin, Xie and his colleagues assume it is 2.1 meters long, 0.65 meters wide on one end and 0.5 meters wide on the other.

But they could hardly tell the shape and size of another coffin, which was found to be totally decayed in the back chamber.

Xie said they had also unearthed 25 antique items -- mostly ceramics and bronze articles -- that had been buried with the diseased in sacrifice, as was the custom in China's history.

"A bronze chop unearthed in the front chamber was inscribed 'Officer Qu's seal'" said Xie, "and we assume this Officer Qu could be the owner of the tomb."

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2004)