Archaeologists rush to save relics in Danjiangkou

Chinese archaeologists are rushing to collect relics in Danjiangkou, an area expected to be cleared and flooded in 2014 to store water for China's massive water-diversion project.

The Henan provincial cultural relics bureau said that since an emergency salvage program was launched seven years ago, excavations have been carried out in 123 archeological sites covering 310,000 square meters and 35,000 items have been unearthed.

According to a previous survey, another four archeological sites need to be excavated before the program finishes at the end of this year.

A 370-square-km area in Danjiangkou will be inundated in 2014 to store water from the Hanjiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze River.

The reservoir will be used to supply water through canals and pipelines currently under construction to parched northern regions including Beijing and Tianjin.

The Danjiangkou area, located at the junction of Henan, Shaanxi and Hubei provinces, is the birthplace of the Neolithic Yangshao culture and the ancient Chu culture.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has sent teams of experts to assist in excavations in the relic-rich area, allowing for more archeological studies to be carried out and more relics to be salvaged before the site is cleared.

Archaeologists said among the most significant finding is a tripod dating back 2,500 years to the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). The bronze tripod was engraved with 49 characters to record the chronogram of the cycle of Jupiter. It was unearthed at the Xujialing Tombs, a burial site for Chu state nobility.

The relic is the only tangible evidence found in China that proves that chronology was used to follow the cycle of Jupiter.