This undated photo provided by the Hunan provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology shows the excavation area of the ruins of the ancient Dutou city in central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua)

Nearly 10,000 wooden slips dating back more than 1,700 years have been unearthed in central China's Hunan Province, providing important evidence for studies on the development and governance of the region in ancient times, said local archaeologists.

The slips, from the state of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.), were found at the ruins of the ancient Dutou city, about 13 km from the seat of Linwu County of Chenzhou City.

The ruins comprise a government office zone, residential living areas, an industrial area and a burial site. The slips were discovered in two ancient wells in the government office zone.

Slips, typically made of wood or bamboo, served as the primary medium for writing among ancient Chinese people prior to the invention and popularization of paper. More than 300,000 slips have been unearthed in China so far.

According to Chen Bin, with the provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology who led the excavation, the slips were official records of the Linwu County about administrative division, taxation, household registration, farming, mining, etc.

Excavation of the ancient Dutou city started in 2016.

Chen said that the government office zone, which was surrounded by moat, was in the shape of a square with sides measuring 100 meters. The residential area was located to the northeast, approximately 300 meters away, while ruins of a smelter were found to the northwest, around 10 km from the site. Archaeologists have also found about 400 tombs.

This undated photo provided by the Hunan provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology shows an ancient well, where more than 2,000 wooden slips were unearthed, at the ruins of the ancient Dutou city in central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua)

This undated photo provided by the Hunan provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeology shows wooden slips unearthed from the ruins of the ancient Dutou city in central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua)