BEIJING, August 1 -- More than 80 ancient tombs, which can be dated back to more than 2,000 years ago, have been discovered recently in Xiangfan city, south-central China's Hubei Province.

    Up to now, nearly 1,000 tombs between West Zhou Dynasty (about 1029 BC to 771 BC) and Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) have been unearthed at the site named Shengang Tombs.

    The newly discovered tombs on a construction site buried low-class aristocrats and civilians during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods, covering an area of 61 mu (about 4 hactare).

    The archaeologists said that it was probably a cemetery. Some of the tombs that were placed in the same direction, side by side, of the same size, were probably the couple's tombs.

    Soundbite: Wang Xianfu, vice-director of Xiangfan Archaeological Institute "The tombs' distribution is special, as part of the graves were comparatively centralized. In that way, that part could belong to a certain family of Chu Dynasty."

    The discovery is believed to push forward the archeological research in Hubei Province, especially its ancient culture studies.

    Hubei is home to the ancient state of Chu, a state during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period with its unique culture.

    A bronze horse, at a height of 1.62 meters and the largest of its kind discovered so far in China, was unearthed in Hubei at the end of 2008 in the excavation of a tomb dated back to early Wei (220-265 AD) and Western Jin (265-317 AD) dynasties.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Xiangfan. (XHTV)