Chinese villager discovers strange turtle-shaped tomb

A resident of the Shangzhuang Village in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi discovered a rare archaeological site while preparing to lay the foundations for his new home. Featuring embedded brick carvings, the turtle-shaped tomb dates back 800 years to the mid- to late-Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 A.D.), Xinhua reports.

The octagonal tomb is four meters tall and consists of five small rooms on the northern, northwestern, southeastern, and southwestern sides; it was constructed to look like a turtle from above. Inside, analysis by the provincial institute of archaeology turned up multiple generations of human remains. Twenty-one embedded carvings on the inside of the chamber depict a folkloric story about sons. The director of the provincial institute of archaeology, Bai Shuzhang, told Xinhua that the unusual discoveries will lend to researcher's understanding of funeral customs in the region during the Jin Dynasty.

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