The 2,000-year-old chicken egg is still in the tomb

Archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old chicken egg in an ancient tomb on the bank of the Xich Shui River, Guizhou Province, China. This is an extremely rare case in Chinese archaeological history.

Mysterious 2,000-year-old egg in ancient tomb in China

The egg was discovered on August 24. This is the first time such an egg was discovered in an ancient tomb in Guizhou. However, the archaeological team still could not find a way to bring the egg up because it could just touch it and it would break immediately.

While excavating the ancient burial site , the team accidentally discovered a yellowish-colored ball found on the pile of pottery. "When brushing with a soft brush, the surface of the ball is cracked, " said Zhang Cheung, who was in charge of the archaeological team. "We took a careful look and a thorough comparison finally determined it was a chicken egg."

Finding chicken eggs in ancient tombs is not only the first occurrence in archaeological history in Guizhou but it is also very rare in China. Previously, chicken eggs were also found in graves in Henan, Shanxi or Chongqing. These graves have something in common that is from the Han Dynasty.

Picture 1 of The 2,000-year-old chicken egg is still in the tomb
The 2,000-year-old chicken egg is found in the ancient tomb

Hoang Kim Loan relic site is located on the bank of Xich Thuy river, Thu Thanh town is the largest relic site opened in Guizhou up to this point. The archaeological team discovered a lot of pottery and part of animal bones in a 2,000-year-old tomb in the Han Dynasty.

Earlier, archaeological experts from Nanjing Museum and Jiangning Museum in Nanjing City excavated the 500-year-old ancient tomb filled with treasures. The treasure in this grave includes golden bracelets, a gold perfume box and blonde pairs, all of which are inlaid with precious stones, in which jade, ruby, and turquoise.

Based on the steles found in the excavation area, researchers identified the buried person as a woman named Mei , who died in 1474 at about 45 years old. The coffin was spoiled by flooding in the water, but her skeleton was still found. Mei is one of Mu Bin's wives, who once ruled Yunnan province.