Archeologists have discovered 131 hanging coffins in China's Hubei province on a cliff located in the Moping township of Zigui county, making it one of the biggest hanging coffin tomb sites found in the country so far, according to The Hindu. The cliff where they were found is 50 meters wide and 100 meters tall, and each coffin was placed in either man-made caves or natural rock tunnels located in the cliff.
The hanging coffins are believed to come from the Tang Dynasty approximately 1,200 years ago and created by the Bo people, an ancient tribe in southwest China. Hanging coffins are an ancient funeral custom of this tribe, as well as some other southern ethnic groups, and they are typically carved from a single piece of whole wood into various shapes. They are typically placed in cave openings on beams that project outward from vertical cliff faces or on natural rocks that project from mountain faces.
The finding is just one of many, with numerous other similar sites found across China. Some are as old as 3,000 years, and the most recent dates back just 1,500 years, The Telegraph Times reported.
While there are many theories regarding how these kinds of sites were created due to the extremely high location of many of the coffins, the answer still remains a mystery, according to the Daily Mail.
Zhao Chenggang, the deputy head of the Moping township, has stated that the local government is placing the area under special protection and has listed it as a cultural site.
