Bronzeware from a group of 3,000-year-old tombs, which archaeologists said belonged to the royal family of Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC-771 BC), was unearthed in northern China's Shanxi Province, said local government.

The tombs, which lie about 17 meters underground, were found at the Hengshui Village of Jiangxian County. Archaeologists found more than 30 pieces of bronzeware, including cooking vessels, kettles and bells, the provincial institute of archeology announced Tuesday.

"The special bronze cooking vessels found in Tomb One and Two, both for couples, suggest the owners must be of noble birth and might even be the first family of a kingdom," said Ji Kunzhang, an archaeologist from the institute.

"There is also one piece of bronzeware with a unique form that all the archaeologists involved in this excavation have never seen before," Ji said.

In addition, some bronzeware artifacts were inscribed with epigraphs totaling 230 characters, which experts say provide valuable assets to the cultural research in the area.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2005)