XI’AN, Jan 27 (NNN-XINHUA) – A China-Kazakhstan joint archaeological research, unveiled the ruins of a city on the ancient Silk Road.
The Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute in northwest China, said that, its cooperation with the Issyk State Historical-Cultural Museum, in Kazakhstan, on the excavation of the ancient city of Rahat, entered its third phase in 2019.
Ding Yan, a researcher of the institute, who participated in the cross-border archaeological programme, said, they excavated 980 square metres and surveyed 500,000 square metres of the Rahat site in 2019.
Relics from the ruins date back between 2,400 years and 1,400 years ago. The ancient civilisation once thrived on the Silk Road at the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains in Kazakhstan.
Ding said, they excavated one house, 23 pits and four tombs, and unearthed 70 pieces of iron, pottery and bone items. The house is of semi-crypt-type, with a slope doorway and a stove pit.