A circular tomb decorated with colorful murals dating back to Liao Dynasty about 1,000 years ago was discovered in Datong City, Northern China. Liao Dynasty flourished in A.D. 907-1125 through stewardship of the Khitans. The said dynasty expanded even outside of China, including Mongolia and parts of Russia.
Experts from Municipal-based Datong Institute of Archeology have to crawl in a tiny opening on the arch-shaped roof of the tomb. They decided to leave the brick-sealed entrance intact due to fear of destroying artifacts behind it. The team discovered two cremated remains inside the tomb, believed to be spouses.
While there are no texts nor artifacts discovered, the ancient tomb is covered with murals which retained its vibrant colors up to this day. It depicts the life millennia ago where there are servants tending to colorful clothing on several stands, according to journal Chinese Cultural Relics. Also, there is a mural that shows a table with four containers full of bracelets, combs, hairpins and headdress in front of the servants.
As for the painted clothes themselves, the tomb gave an insight how colorful the fashion is during Liao Dynasty. There are beige, bluish-gray, pink, sky blue and yellowish brown clothes on one stand. In another section of the mural, more lavish lifestyle 1,000 years ago was depicted. There is a garment with a grid-diamond pattern with red decorative flowers in each diamond.
The couple that was cremated in the tomb seems to love the mix-and-match style of garments as well. One garment on the mural was painted with Pei pendant with a string of black beads, Live Science said. Pei is a Chinese word which roughly translates to "matching" in English.
To recall, there is a similar discovery in 2014 at the Northern China region. Experts also discovered an untouched mural in the tomb where animals were depicted. There is cat, crane, deer and yellow turtle. Interestingly, the earlier discovery was also made by Datong Municipal Institute of Archeology.
