Pictures: Ancient Chariot Fleet, Horses Unearthed in China

Toe to Toe

Photograph by Zhang Xiaoli, Xinhua via Fame/Barcroft

The bodies of two horses and a dog were carefully arranged in a smaller grave site discovered at the same time as the larger chariot tomb.

Dogs were important work and sacrificial animals in ancient China, so their presence in the chariot tombs is not unusual, Sena said.

"We often see them in the bottom of pits of human tombs" as well, he added.

(Related: "Buried Dogs Were Divine 'Escorts' for Ancient Americans.")

Published September 27, 2011

Underground Garage

Photograph by Zhang Xiaoli, Xinhua via Fame/Barcroft

The newly unearthed chariot tomb—pictured above early this month—dates to the "heyday of chariot warfare" in China, Sena said.

"Chariots were kind of the main units of warfare during" the Zhou dynasty, he added. "Later, chariots were still used, but their effectiveness was reduced, because you got larger armies composed mostly of commoners, so warfare became much less of an aristocratic affair."

(Also see "Horse Taming, Milking Started in Kazakhstan.")

Published September 27, 2011

Brushless Chariot Wash

Photograph by Zhang Xiaoli, Xinhua via Fame/Barcroft

A worker sprays water onto some of the recently unearthed chariot horse skeletons to help them retain moisture. Archaeologists believe the 12 deliberately arranged horses were slaughtered prior to being buried.

Many chariots used by noblemen during the Eastern Zhou dynasty were adorned with valuable metals and materials, such as bronze and ivory, though reports of the Luoyang find make no mention of precious materials.

Valuable chariot parts and accessories were often gifts from the Zhou dynasty's ruler himself, Sena explained.

"Many bronze inscriptions describe a kind of political ritual where a nobleman is invested with a title or duty or some land, and that's always accompanied by gift giving. Chariot parts and accoutrements were a very important part of that."

(Also see "Photos: Human Sacrifices Found at Ancient China Complex.")

Published September 27, 2011

Skeleton Crew

Photograph by Zhang Xiaoli, Xinhua via Fame/Barcroft

It's unclear whether the chariots and horses found in the recently excavated pit were expected to be of use to the buried aristocrat in the afterlife, or whether the practice underscored a family's importance and wealth in life.

It may have been a combination of both, Sena said. "I think we can make the inference that these [chariots and sacrificed horses] spoke to some need that the dead would have in the afterlife."

(Related: "Ancient Mass Sacrifice, Riches Discovered in China Tomb.")

Published September 27, 2011

Endangered Dead?

Photograph from Imaginechina/AP

A Chinese archaeologist investigates a human and animal skeleton at a separate Luoyang site from the Western Zhou dynasty last summer.

Luoyang is currently undergoing rapid expansion, so "archaeologists are really kind of under the gun to save as much of this material before it's destroyed or covered over by industrial growth," Sena said.

"It's very nice to see that they're able to save these things and document them for scholars and for posterity."

(Also see a "wet mummy" found during roadbuilding in China.)

Published September 27, 2011