Archaeologists in China have found a mysterious set of rectangular wooden pieces connected to an ancient astronomical calendar. The artifacts were discovered inside an extremely well-preserved 2,000-year-old tomb in the southwest of the country.

Each of the 23 wooden plates is approximately one inch (2.5 centimeters) wide and 4 inches (10 cm) tall and depicts a Chinese character associated with Tiangang Dizhi, or “Ten Heavenly Roots and 12 Earthly Branches,” a traditional Chinese astronomical calendar. It was founded during the Shang Dynasty, which ruled from 1600 BC. until about 1045 BC.

Archaeologists believe that one of the leaves may represent any current year, while the other 22 leaves may have been used to describe any year in the ancient calendar, according to a translation of an article on the China News website run by the agency. by the Chinese government.

Circular holes on the edges of each pad indicate that they were once connected together. But it’s still unclear how wooden calendar leaves work, an expert told LiveScience. Although the practice of writing characters on wood or bamboo strips was common in China before the invention of paper, this is the first time such objects have been found in an ancient tomb.

Archaeologists from the Chongqing Municipal Government, which is also run by the Chinese government, told Global that the wooden leaves and many other artifacts were discovered earlier this year in a tomb in Wulong district, about 1,400 kilometers southwest of Beijing. Times. . .

Written list of all grave goods found in the grave, B.C. It also states that it was built in 193. This means that the tomb dates from the Western Han Dynasty, which ruled most of China from 206 BC to 9 AD; This was followed by the Eastern Han Dynasty, which ruled until AD 220, and these periods are considered the “Golden Age” in which many Chinese traditions were established.

Archaeologist Wang Meng said this tomb is the best-preserved wooden tomb among those found in southwestern China.

Project manager Huang Wei told the Global Times that the tomb also contains more than 600 cultural artifacts, including lacquered bowls, boxes, jars and plates. It also included bamboo utensils and musical pipes, spears and copper tripods for cooking, wooden figurines, pottery and bronze objects.

calendar mystery

Astronomer Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and author of Echoes of the Ancient Sky: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations (Dover, 2003), who was not involved in Wulong’s discovery, told Live Science that the Tiangan Dizhi Calendar is basically , used for example in Chinese astrology – the wooden leaves found in the Wulong tomb were unusual.

“The wooden leaves with calendar markings are significant as they are the first and only known example of this type of inscription on this type of object,” he said in an email.

However, it seems unlikely that a set of wooden leaves could serve as a calendar; Instead, he said, they may have been used to refer to any year of the 60-year calendar cycle.

“If so, these are not ‘books’ but items used to highlight a particular year,” he said. He noted similarities to the practice followed at a Taoist temple in Suzhou, China; here each year in the cycle is represented by a statue that is specifically marked when it is relevant.

Krupp said findings from the Wulong Tomb indicate that a high-status person was buried there. “The artifacts buried with the deceased are very, very good,” he said. “It’s a rich and expensive material.”