Chinese archaeologists have discovered five 1,000-year-old wells in Ji'an City, east China's Jiangxi Province.
Many items used in sacrificial ceremonies and carved bricks dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) were unearthed from the mud-filled wells.
The wells, from five to 11 meters deep, were found at a construction site of a new building for the Ji'an Hotel.
Archaeologists arrived immediately on receiving the news and carried out excavations and protection of the site.
The most valuable items unearthed were 30 well-preserved porcelain articles made in the famous Jizhou kiln of the Tang Dynasty.
Also unearthed were Buddha statues, brick carvings, wooden turtle heads and stone lions, and sacrificial ceremony items such as candleholders.
In the deepest well, archaeologists also found part of the chlorophyllite well brim, a rare discovery in Jiangxi.
Gao Liren, curator of the Ji'an Museum, said most of the relics belonged to the Tang and Northern Song dynasties, but the wells were dug in an earlier period.
"The walls of the wells are very smooth, indicating the engineering of drilling wells in ancient times was highly advanced," Gao said, adding they were as good as modern wells in terms of drilling techniques.
With a depth of 11 meters and a diameter of 80 centimeters, two of the wells have attracted special attention. Experts concluded that only a temple or palace needed such huge wells at that time.
"They may be linked to the Snow Mountain Temple which was established in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) and destroyed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)," Gao said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2006)
