Scientists in China announced on Sunday that they discovered more than 200 ancient crypts in Henan Province, which they believe could be around 2,600 years old.
The ancient burial site, which is located near Luoyang City's Yichuan County, includes 30 ash pits, eight chariot and horse pits and more than 10 kilns dating back to China's Spring and Autumn period around 771 to 476 BC.
The tombs cover an area of around 200,000 square meters (2.1 million square feet) and can be found right next to the ruins of an ancient Han Dynasty city.
By examining evidence of the period and migration of the inhabitants of the area, the archeologists estimate that the local tribe could well be one of the very few groups of people in the region whose history of migration and extinction have been recorded.
The next goal for the researchers is to study records of minorities who have migrated in the central region of China.
Aside from the newly-discovered tombs, scientists have also found other archaeological sites in Yichuan County such as Fan Zhongyan's Tomb, Yichuan Chengyuan, YuXi YiBaoZhai ZhanLanGuan, the Huangjue Temple and the Pingquanzhuang Ruins.
Historians have long considered Henan Province as one of the places where the Chinese civilization originated. The central plains also served as the center of culture, politics and economics for ancient people before the founding of the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty.
In November, researchers unearthed another Han Dynasty burial site in Jiangxi Province, which belonged to the emperor Liu He.
Despite having only reigned for 27 days and being deposed by his own clansmen, Liu He was still given a lavished 40,000-square-meter (430,600-square-foot) cemetery that included eight tombs and 900-meter (3,250-foot) walls.
Found within the burial site are the tomb of Liu He's wife, memorial temples and even systems of roads and drainage.
It also contained more than 10,000 gold, bronze and iron artifacts as well as jade items, bamboo slips and wooden tablets.
According to archaeologists, the location of the emperor's cemetery corresponds to the capital of a small state known as the Haihun Kingdom.
