2,400-year-old pot of soup excavated
Third age.com
A 2,400-year-old pot of soup has been exhumed near the ancient capital of Xian in China, reports said Monday. Chinese archaeologists found the ancient food sealed in a bronze cooking vessel in a tomb.
AFP reported Monday that archaeologists were in the process of excavating the tomb to clear the way for the expansion of Xian's international airport.
The discovery sheds some light on the eating habits and culture of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).
"It's the first discovery of bone soup in Chinese archaeological history," Liu Daiyun of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology told the Global Times.
The contents of the vessel were green from oxidation of the bronze, and further tests will be required to determine the specific ingredients and confirm whether it is in fact soup.
Scientists also excavated a bronze pot that contained an odorless liquid believed to be wine. They also discovered a rotten lacquer-ware vessel.
Nearby tombs suggest the inhabitant of the mausoleum was a high-ranking officer or member of the land-owning class.
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