The thousand-year-old remains of the couple buried in the same grave

The remains of a couple of Northern Song dynasty were discovered in an ancient tomb made of bricks with a doorway on the partition to reunite in the afterlife.

The tomb of the Northern Song Dynasty contains the remains of a couple. (Photo: AsiaWire).

Archaeologists find the body of the husband and wife lying on the floor of a tiled tomb with the head resting on a brick pillow in the ancient cemetery of Duong Gia Loan in Ninh Huong district, Hunan province. They also discovered a number of ceramic pieces next to the two remains buried during the Northern Song Dynasty (960 to 1127). The gap in the wall between the two tombs was very rare in ancient China. According to the ancient concept, this is a window for the couple to be able to reunite in the afterlife, according to researcher Yang Ningbo at the Institute of Cultural and Archeological Heritage Research in Henan Province.

Archaeological team began excavating the tomb before the plan to build the Ninh Huong - Thieu Son highway running through the area. The route is expected to open in 2022.

Graphite found outside the entrance to the tomb provides an opportunity for more accurate dating through carbon isotopes, helping researchers estimate the time the couple died. The small number of burial objects in the grave shows that the dead are civilians, only possessing basic items. However, the fact that they were buried together in a tomb indicates that they may have some possessions. This is one of the few graves in the cluster of tombs in Nam Phan Duong village. The second tomb in the area dates back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (from 25 to 220) and contains 13 objects including iron cauldron.

The Northern Song Dynasty was a period of rapid population growth in mainland China after the discovery of a rapidly maturing rice variety and the opening of trade routes with other countries. Emperor Tong Thai To established the country after the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in 960 and set the capital at Kaifeng.