Cultural heritage workers have unearthed from a cluster of ancient tombs in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region a coffin with a well-dressed corpse and some valuable chinaware pieces inside.

The tombs, located in a village of Jungar Banner on the Ordos plateau, were nearly 2,000 years old and must have been built in the Western or Eastern Han dynasties (206 BC -- 220 AD), said Yin Chunlei, an official with Ordos City Museum.

"The corpse was found in one of those tombs. It lay in a well-built coffin and was dressed in many layers of top quality silk clothes," said Yin. "We didn't attempt to peel them off for fear of causing damage."

According to Yin, the fine clothes suggested the tomb owner must have been a rich man -- most probably an aristocrat.

"Despite the passage of time, his corpse is well preserved -- even the bun on his head is still intact," he added.

Yin and his colleagues have also unearthed from the tombs more than 20 valuable china and lacquer items that were typical of the Han Dynasty. "We plan to take them back to the museum for further study," Yin said.

The heritage pieces would give clues to researchers on the habitation, folk customs and social and economic development on the Ordos plateau some 2,000 years ago, he added.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2004)