Fangmatan, Archaeological site near Tianshui, China
Fangmatan is an archaeological site near Tianshui with several ancient tombs containing wooden coffins and written materials. The graves hold bamboo documents, maps, and artifacts that reveal how people lived and thought during that period.
The site dates to around 230 BCE when important administrative and medical knowledge began being systematically recorded. The tombs provide evidence of how Chinese civilization organized itself during this transformative period.
Families here once buried written documents, maps, and valued objects alongside their dead, believing these items would serve the deceased in the afterlife. Visiting today shows how much these practices mattered to the local community.
The site lies near Tianshui in Gansu province and is generally open for visits outside of restricted periods. Visitors should come prepared for uneven ground and expect to spend time walking through different tomb areas.
Tomb 5 yielded the world's oldest known piece of paper, which bears a map showing mountains and waterways. This tiny discovery proves that papermaking technology existed much earlier than historians had previously thought.
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