An overhead photo of an ancient tomb. It was recently unearthed in Yunhe county. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

An ancient tomb from the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316) was recently discovered in Yunhe county,  administered by Lishui city, located in East China's Zhejiang province.

The tomb was accidently found at a construction site. "When I passed the construction site during my daily inspection, the electric power department was digging," said Qiu Changqi, a member of staff from the county's cultural relics protection center.

"After a worker dug out broken bricks, I suspected there might be a tomb there," Qiu added.

After salvage archaeology excavation, five relics were unearthed – a golden ring, a coin, a tiger-shaped ornamental ceramic piece, a pot and a broad-mouthed receptacle.

Salvage archaeology is the branch of archaeology in which the excavation, analysis and collection of artifacts is performed in situ in a swift manner in order to avoid damage due to the imminent hazard and destruction of the archaeological site.

"The wares in the tombs are relatively well preserved – with good texture and a bright glaze color – indicating that Yunhe might have developed to a certain scale and a certain level of people lived there," said Chen Minghui, deputy director of the prehistoric archaeology department of the Zhejiang Cultural Relic Archaeology Institute.

The discovery is of great importance for research into the politics, economy, production, life, customs and religion of the southwest part of Zhejiang province.