Abandoned well hid 1,700-year-old government records. See ancient finds from China

Aspen Pflughoeft
·1 min read
7

Obscured by dirt and forgotten by time, an ancient well — and its hidden treasures — sat abandoned for centuries in central China. Not anymore.

Archaeologists were excavating an ancient site in Changsha when they uncovered the abandoned water well, the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the China Archaeology Network said in a Feb. 1 news release.

Inside the well, archaeologists found hundreds of government records from at least 1,700 years ago, the institute said. A photo shows one of these ancient records.

These types of official records are known as bamboo slips because of the material they were written on and their thin, reed-like shape.

Some of the 1,700-year-old bamboo slips, or official records, found in Changsha.
Some of the 1,700-year-old bamboo slips, or official records, found in Changsha.

“Slips, typically made of wood or bamboo, served as the primary medium for writing among ancient Chinese people prior to the invention and popularization of paper,” Xinhua News, a state-controlled news outlet, reported.

The bamboo slips found in Changsha had official markings that indicated they were part of the official government archive during the Qin and Han dynasties, archaeologists said.

The Qin dynasty began in 221 B.C. and was followed by the Han dynasty, which ended in 220 A.D., according to Britannica.

Other artifacts found at the ancient site in Changsha.
Other artifacts found at the ancient site in Changsha.

A similar set of 1,700-year-old bamboo slips was also recently found in a pair of abandoned wells at another ancient Chinese city. Those slips included records of taxes, household registrations and other economic or administrative information.

Excavations at the Changsha site have been ongoing since June 2022, the institute said. Archaeologists have also found the ruins of an official or aristocratic-style building, the ruins of a large-scale water facility and artifacts such as pottery and bronze objects.

Changsha is a city in Hunan province and about 550 miles southwest of Shanghai.

Google Translate and Baidu Translate were used to translate the news release from the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the China Archaeology Network.

Prehistoric ivory ‘baton’ puzzled experts for years. A new study might have answers

Mysterious ruins found hidden in courtyard of 500-year-old castle in Norway. See them

‘Ancient arcade’ — with a familiar game — found in Kenya, archaeologist says. See it