1 . Several cultural relics unearthed from the Haihunhou tomb in Nanchang have been confirmed to be official documents presented to the imperial court. The three pieces already released were all written with ink, according to the Nanchang Evening News.

Based on the analysis by Zhang Yuzheng, an expert at Beijing Union University, the relics may be the oldest original copies of senior official documents in the Han Dynasty (BC 206-AD 220), which have great value for the study of ancient official documents.

Among the three publicly released relics, two of them remain fairly intact with exact date information, though the handwriting is partly damaged. Chinese characters meaning “concubine (妾)” and “Haihunhou He” can be seen on the relics, which show that they were written by the Marquis of Haihun Liu He and his concubine.

Zhang Yuzheng suggested that according to Haushu, the documents presented to the imperial court should be in two copies, with the original copy submitted to the emperor and the copy to the minister. The minister would first review the contents and then decide whether it was appropriate to be submitted to the emperor. The system was ended during the reign of Emperor Hanxuan in the Han Dynasty. The unearthed relics from Haihunhou tomb are believed to have been written on the fourth year of Yuankang during the reign of Emperor Hanxun when the system was already ended.

Therefore, Zhang holds that the unearthed relics written with date information “fourth year of Yuankang” were very likely the original copies of official documents, instead of copies.

The whole structure and content are also complete, the handwriting is quite neat, and the format (格式) is strict, consistent with the features of an original copy, according to Zhang.

The true origins of silk fabric will likely never be known. The best that can be done is    1     (search) the archaeological (考古) record for its earliest traces. A silkworm cocoon (茧) was discovered at a site in China     2     (date) to 5,000-3,000 BCE. Those    3    found it thought that the cocoon had been cut open    4     (deliberate).

This seems unlikely to have been done if the cocoon was to be used to produce silk     5    cutting the cocoon reduces the length of the silk fibres. Silkworm larvae (幼虫) have been, and still     6     (eat) in several countries, so it may be that this example was used for food rather than fashion.The    7     (old) examples of silk fabric that still exist were discovered in Qianshanyang from 2,700 BCE. These    8     (part) of threads and ribbons show how threads of silk were woven at    9     early stage. Discoveries of artefact (人工制品)     10     (use) in spinning and weaving also point to an early development of silk fabrics in China.

3 . Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed a Sphinx statue (狮身人面像) with a smiley face near the Hathor Temple, one of the country’s best preserved ancient sites. The smiling Sphinx is much smaller than the famous Sphinx in Giza, which is 20 metres high. The stone work of art, believed to be a stylized representation of an ancient Roman emperor, was found inside a two-level tomb near the temple in southern Egypt.

Next to the beautifully and accurately carved Sphinx, researchers had found a Roman stone written in hieroglyph (象形文字). Once fully translated, the stone may unveil the identity of the sculpted ruler, who could be Emperor Claudius.

The smiling Sphinx is among a series of discoveries announced over the past few months. The country has uncovered major archaeological discoveries in recent months, primarily in the Saqqara cemetery (墓地) south of Cairo as well as in Giza, home to the only surviving structure of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Recently, Egypt announced the discovery of a hidden nine-metre passage inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, which may lead to the actual burial room of pharaoh (法老) Khufu, or Cheops. Further south, in Luxor, archaeologists had discovered a 1,800-year-old complete residential city from the Roman times.

Hathor Temple, about 500 kilometres south of the capital Cairo, was home to the Dendera Zodiac, a heavenly map which has been displayed at the Louvre in Paris for more than a century. Since Frenchman Sebastien Louis Saulnier took it out of the temple in 1922, Egypt has been attempting to get it back.

Some experts see such announcements as having more political and economic weight than scientific, as Egypt is counting on tourism to revive its vital tourism industry in a severe economic crisis. The government aims to draw in 30 million tourists a year by 2028.

Located in the Yangtze River Basin, the archaeological (考古的) ruins of Liangzhu date back to 3, 300~2, 300 BC. The ruins reveal a nearly state with a unified belief system based on rice cultivation (种植), and this state    1     (offer)evidence that the Chinese civilization started 5, 000 years ago, 1, 000 years earlier than previously     2     (estimate). These ruins are    3     outstanding example of early urban civilization.

Chen Minghui, archaeologist and director of the Liangzhu Workstation, has an    4    (awful) tight schedule everyday as he not only has to deal with research work in Liangzhu and Lishui, but also needs to help review English-version books about the Liangzhu civilization, which    5     (release) soon.

Having worked in Liangzhu for 11 years, Chen is always     6     (confidence) that Liangzhu’s 5, 000-year history is unquestionable as it has all the necessary elements characterizing an ancient civilization, which are also key     7     (factor)that helped Liangzhu to be listed by UNESCO. “We must share our research results with the world,    8     (let) people from all over the world learn from and understand China’s Liangzhu civilization,” the 35-year-old archaeologist said.

    9     Chen hopes is to bring cultural relics (文物)     10     life, detailing all the exciting findings about Liangzhu-related research for people all over the world.

6 . Roughly 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Now some scientists are working to decode (解码) one of the great mysteries of that time — the scrolls (卷轴) of Herculaneum.

In 1752, workers were digging in Herculaneum when they uncovered a home that had belonged to a rich person. Inside, under a layer of volcanic mud, they discovered over 600 scrolls — the largest library of the ancient world. Most of the scrolls were made from papyrus—a paper like material. The heat from the volcano had burned the scrolls so much that they looked like blocks of charcoal (木炭).

The scrolls were so fragile that just touching them could make them fall apart. So scientists have been looking for ways to read the scrolls without opening them. Dr. Seales developed a method of using a CT (computed tomography) scanner to take 3D X-ray images of a papyrus scroll. Then he used a computer program to “unroll” the scroll, and get pictures of what it looked like on the inside. In 2016, his team used this method to read a burned scroll found near the Dead Sea.

But the scrolls from Herculaneum are much harder. The ink is made from charcoal and water, and doesn’t show up well in CT scans. He trained an AI program to figure out the writing. Though Dr. Seales was making progress, it was slow going. Then Dr. Seales met with two businessmen, who had the idea of creating a contest.

About 1,500 people have taken part in the contest. These people are sharing information as they make progress, so everyone can build on those ideas. In August, Luke Farritor, a 21-year-old student at the University of Nebraska, created an AI program that found a whole word: “πορψúραc”, or “porphyras” which means “purple”.

“This is the first word ever read from these ancient scrolls. For me, reading words from within the Herculaneum scrolls is like stepping onto the moon,” Dr. Seales says. “Now I can’t wait to explore.”

A complete skeleton (骨架) of an animal, which was later confirmed to be that of a giant panda, was unearthed at     1     end of 2021 in Xi’an. It was the first time in history that giant panda remains had been unearthed from a tomb     2     (date) back to the Western Han Dynasty.

The skeleton had well-developed teeth, and was placed within a neatly     3     (lay) brick structure facing towards the direction of the tomb, with its tail pointing westward. After comparing the skeleton     4     existing giant pandas’, researchers discovered that it     5     (actual) belonged to a giant panda.

The researchers thought this giant panda might have originated from the forests on the northern side of the Qinling Mountains, where the climate was possibly     6     (warm) than today.

Back in 1975, a buried giant panda     7     (discover) near the tomb of Empress Bo. Researchers said that it is not yet possible to conclude that Empress Bo had a special     8     (prefer) for giant pandas. It appeared to be a royal garden feature.

Besides the giant panda, the remains of other rare animals were also found in the tomb,     9     reflects the belief in the Han Dynasty that people would live a life in the underworld, similar to that when they     10     (be) alive.

A total of 3,228 graves have been found at the ruins     1     date back more than 3, 000 years in Qinghai Province, northwest China, archaeologists said on Monday.

The ruins,     2     (locate) in Balong Township in Dulan County, are believed to be a group that combined graves and housing during the period between 1,500 BC and 1,000 BC. In 2021, the provincial research academy of cultural heritage and archaeology and Northwest University worked together     3     (launch) an excavation (挖掘).

According to Du Wei, leader of the excavation project, three graveyards     4     (cover) a total area of 120,000 square meters have been discovered, and another 52 graves     5     (dig) up so far.

“Potteries, bronze ware, jadeware, braided fabrics, human bones and     6     (remain) of animals and plants were among the unearthed items, providing a lot of materials for the study of Nuomuhong culture,” Du said.

Nuomuhong culture is a Bronze Age archaeological culture with Qinghai characteristics,     7     (large) distributed in the Qaidam Basin and     8     (it) surrounding areas.

Speaking at a meeting of experts on the ruins last week, Huo Wei,     9     professor at Sichuan University, said that the excavation had confirmed the long history of the Qaidam Basin and is     10     great significance for the research on the ancient civilization of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In Diaoyu city, an ancient castle in Southwest China’s Chongqing, a special tour was conducted recently with a focus on damaged walls, old stones and ordinary-looking locations, rather than the photogenic spots     1     (normal) favored by tourists.

Ten people from four     2     (family) were invited to the new archaeology-themed study tour,     3     was organized by Chongqing’s institute of cultural relics (文物) and archaeology. The tour was designec     4    (bring) the cultural relics more vitality (生机) and develop the interest of participants in study ins history and archaeology     5     (office) data shows that Chongqing has about 26,000 immovable cultural relics and over 1.48 million movable ones. By the end of 2021, there had been 108 million state-owned cultural relics.     6     total number of world heritage sites in China had reached 56,     7     (rank) second in the world.

Other than the study tour, Chongqing has promoted the charm of history and culture, such as opening the country’s first archaeology-themed café     8     starting an immersive (沉浸式的) and theatrical experience in a historic structure.

Chongqing     9     (bring) 10 more historical sites into the range of archaeological tourism in the future. These tourist attractions     10     (expect) to inspire the interest of teenagers in history and archaeological culture.

Discoveries made during the latest excavation of Pit No.1 at the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, have allowed Chinese archaeologists to gain more insight into     1     the world-famous Terracotta Warriors and their weapons were made.

According to a recent report archaeologists     2     (restore) more than 140 Terracotta Warriors. They discovered that the arms of these figures were created separately and then attached to the bodies and covered in a layer of fine clay. The carving of fine details was completed     3     the arms were attached.     4     (additional), the pit has yielded a variety of weapons, including long-range attack weapons, shields for defense, as well as drums and drumsticks used for commanding soldiers.

“The Terracotta Warriors used a very special mechanism to connect pieces together. Such     5     (wise) was unique to China,” Lv Qiuxia,     6     expert on ancient Chinese art, told the Global Times on Wednesday. Lv added that the way the warriors were made differed based on their social status and class. “When     7     (analyze) how they were made, we noticed that the warriors were divided into different classes. This contributes to research     8     the burial culture of the Terracotta Warriors.” the expert noted.

Through excavations, Chinese researchers have established the types and arrangement of weapons     9     (use) by the Terracotta Warriors as well as the formations and patterns of the     10     (mystery) underground army.