Five chariots with horses buried before our era were unearthed in China

Archaeologists from the Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xi'an (China) during excavations in Gansu province discovered five chariots underground, four of which were drawn by pairs adult horses. Study published in Antiquity magazine.

It is assumed that the animals were sacrificed. Most likely, for the sake of some noble persons, shallow graves with the remains of seven people were found under the chariots. All of them were buried in wooden coffins. The typological analysis made it possible to date the discovered artifacts to the 7th-6th centuries BC. Radiocarbon dating indicated the middle of the 1st millennium BC.

The study also showed that all horses were adult males. It is possible that during their lifetime they were used as draft animals - there are characteristic anomalies on the teeth and bones.

The authors of the study note that horses began to be used for ritual burials at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, when the Shang state existed (about 1600-1046 BC). Separate pits were dug for the animals, in which they were buried with or without chariots.