New progress has been made in cleaning up and protecting unearthed cultural relics from the Dasongshan Tombs in Gui'an New Area in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

As of May 12, a total of more than 1,200 pieces of pottery and porcelain, 224 pieces of ironware and more than 3,000 drawing relics and tomb drawings had been restored.

Restored pottery and porcelain artifacts. [Photo/colorful Guizhou network]

The excavation of the Dasongshan Tombs was selected as one of the top 10 national archaeological discoveries in 2022. The tombs provide insight into the culture, trade, faith and funerals of different periods, depicting the 1,400-year-history of ancient ethnic groups in the Southwest frontier.

Over the course of just six months, the archaeological team excavated a total of 2,192 tombs at an average rate of 12 tombs per day, and unearthed more than 4,000 cultural relics, daily necessities and ornaments. This made the Dasongshan Tombs the largest and longest-lasting excavated tomb group in Guizhou's archaeological history.

 A worker restores various relics. [Photo/colorful Guizhou network]

Over the past year, the archaeological team has restored various relic fragments and created drawings, rubbings and video recordings of relics. Additionally, laboratory tests were performed on the acquired heritage, environment and dated specimens.

Moving forward, the Guizhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology will continue to invite archaeological experts and scholars to conduct research on the shape, craftsmanship and ornamental features of the relics. It will also cooperate with cultural preservation institutions to formulate an optimal restoration plan for the unearthed cultural relics.