In the Heshan 赫山 District of Hunan's Yiyang city, archaeologists excavated three tombs: one which was a brick chambered tomb, another was a pit tomb, and a third was a pit tomb with cave chambers. This last tomb M3 was the best preserved and unique. M3's tomb passage was made like a stairway, while the tomb's two chambers were fashioned in the style of caves. The tomb had 18 grave goods, including 8 pieces of well-preserved celadon vessels. This is the first time a cave-chamber tomb has been found in Yiyang, and is a type of tomb that is very rare in Hunan, but it is common in the north. This has led the excavating archaeologists to speculate that the deceased was a northerner who moved to Yiyang late in the Eastern Han or during the Three Kingdoms period. The deceased used the burial customs of his/her native place, but was interred with local grave goods.
For more information, please check out the report on Zhongguo Kaogu here.
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