Chinese archaeologists have unearthed more than 100 pieces of bronze ware dating back to 2,700 years ago in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The 103 bronze wares include weapons, chariots, wine and sacrifice vessels, some of them engraved with owners' emblems or inscriptions. The wares were firstly found in a cellar by six farmers in Wujun Village, Fufeng County when they were digging a water channel in their field. They immediately reported the discovery to local relic protection authorities.
     "The wares could be traced back to the middle or late period of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1,100 BCE - 771 BCE), " said Wu Zhenfeng, a researcher of the Shaanxi Archaeological and Research Institute. The inscriptions on the bronze wares indicate they belonged to four to five families, said Wu. Inscriptions inside two wine vessels are both about a mediation to a property dispute between two aristocrats, according to Wu. The bronze ware have been sent to the county museum for research and exhibition.

Source: People's Daily Online (11 November 2006)