This is the first time Chinese archaeologists have discovered a complete skeleton of an animal in an ancient burial area, archaeologist Hu Songmei at the Shandong Westerner Archaeological Academy told SCMP.
Mr. Hu's archaeological team has found a giant pandas' skeleton opposite the mausoleum of Han Van De - the 5th emperor of the Tay Han Dynasty, who ruled until 157 BC.
The cemetery is located near Xi'an - a city in Xi'an Province - which used to be the capital of China.
At the end of 2021, archaeologists excavated the remains of tigers, pigs, bison wild cows, Tay Tang cows, Tay Tang wild buffaloes (or linh lang) and other animals in 20 buried holes in corners of a royal garden near Han Van De's mausoleum, according to the West China Metropolis Daily.
However, only recently, through DNA testing, archaeologist Hu Songmei's team identified the complete skeleton of the giant pandas among the bones in the mausoleum.
This pandas is likely to belong to the Tan Linh pandas subculture - a larger, larger, and rounder pandas classification, unlike the more famous Tu Xuyen giant pandas.
Archaeologist Hu Songmei pointed out that the appearance of a pandas near Tay An may show that the climate of this area at that time was a few degrees warmer than today, creating conditions for bamboo and bamboo to develop.
However, it is also possible that the animal was sent from south to Tay An as a gift to the Chinese emperor, Humei Song added.
In 1975, archaeologists found the skull of a pandas in the mausoleum of Han Van De - Queen of Bac Co. However, the body of this pandas was not found.
Archaeologist Hu added that the discovery of the snakehead pig in the Mausoleum of Han Van De is also a particularly important discovery because this animal has long been extinct in China. In autochronicles, the snakehead fish is often suspected to be a pandas.
Chinese archaeologists believe that the discovery of the snakehead pigs shows that both pandas and snakehead pigs may have existed in China in ancient times.
