New cultural relics of ancient Loulan city found
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-09 11:05

A team of Chinese archeologists have discovered new cultural relics in the ruins of the ancient Loulan city, which is supposed to be the capital of the Loulan Kingdom and is part of Chinese ancient civilization that vanished 1,500 years ago.

The findings, located underground northwest of an ancient government office site, include camel feces, fodder, charcoal and bestial bones under a 70-centimeter-thick layer dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD to 220 AD).

"The discovery provides another important evidence for the controversy whether Loulan city was the capital of the Loulan Kingdom," said Wang Binghua, member of the research team.

The relics also indicated there were human activities before the Eastern Han period, and aroused the opinion that it was only after the Eastern Han when the Loulan city became a political and cultural center of the Lop Nur Lake area, he said.

Loulan city suddenly disappeared from the area in the third century, leaving a wealth of enigmas for later generations. No traces of Loulan had been found until 100 years ago when Swedish explorer Sven Hedin accidentally discovered the ruins of the ancient city buried in desert.

However, there have been different views among Chinese and foreign archaeologists on why and how the city, once a booming trade center with a thriving trade in silk, glass and perfume, disappeared so suddenly.