A bronze chime and several other artifacts dating back to 475-221 BC have been unearthed in east China.
The chime was discovered in a tomb located under a construction site in the city of Suqian in Jiangsu province.
Although the tomb had been previously raided by looters, researchers still discovered a number of bronzeware and earthenware artifacts, including bronze tripods and ceramic chimes, according to Li Gengshan, head of the city’s Sucheng District Museum.
Although the owner of the tomb remains a mystery, the value of the artifacts suggests the owner may have been a high-ranking official or aristocrat, Xinhua quoted Li as saying. Ancient Chinese aristocrats used chimes in musical performances as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC). A 10-tonne chime excavated from the tomb of Duke Zeng in central China’s Hubei province holds the record for the largest chime discovered in China.