Ancient double-deck coffin contains woman, belongings from 6th century

The remains in the rarely found double-deck lacquer coffin unearthed in Zhengxiangbai Banner, a county-level administrative district of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Xilin Gol League, have been proved to be those of a woman, as the first phase of study wound up last weekend.

The coffin, which is believed to be from the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534), ruled by an ancient nomadic ethnic group of Xianbei, was found in October by a local herdsman who also is a volunteer cultural relic protector. The discovery was not made public until early this month.

On March 8, after months of preliminary study, the coffin was opened by an archaeological team co-led by the autonomous region's Department of Culture and the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage affiliated with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.