Hunt for treasure yields many artifacts in river

Since the 1950s, bulk silver, gold and coins have been found in Jiangkou from time to time. The Meishan police said in October 2016 that they had detained 10 gangs for digging illegally for relics, in addition to breaking up trading networks involving 70 people after more than a year of investigation.

That prompted archaeologists to start the first underwater archaeological dig in Sichuan last year. In both that dig and the one this year, temporary dams were built to divert water before the research institute began its excavation.