This undated file photo provided by the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology shows pottery figurines found in an ancient cemetery in the western suburb of Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province. An ancient cemetery which was believed to belong to maids of the palace dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was found in the western suburb of Xi'an, according to the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology.(Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology/Handout via Xinhua)

An ancient cemetery which was believed to belong to maids of the palace dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was found in the western suburb of Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province, according to the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology.

From 2021 to 2022, archaeologists with the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology have successively excavated more than 1,200 tombs from the Wei and Jin dynasties (220-420) to Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties in the western suburb of Xi'an. The Tang Dynasty cemetery was among them.

The cemetery consists of 57 tombs distributed in nine lines. The space of each tomb is narrow and low and can only accommodate a coffin. These tombs are all single burials.

Funerary objects are mainly pottery and pots, and some tombs have women's accessories such as shells, bronze mirrors, and jade ornaments.

Judging from the shape of the tombs and the funerary objects, the cemetery was identified as belonging to the early Tang Dynasty. Occupants of 20 tombs in the cemetery with well-preserved human bones were young women between the ages of 20 and 30.

According to the epitaphs of palace maids from different periods of the Tang Dynasty found in the southwest of this area, it is speculated that these tombs discovered should be imperial tombs from the early Tang Dynasty.