Faces of the sons of the Khans, in living color

CNTV reports on the discovery of Yuan Dynasty artwork – a trove of murals from the time when the Khans ruled:

The tomb was discovered last year when a heavy downpour washed away the top stone. After excavation work by archaeologists, the remarkable appearance of the murals are now revealed for the public’s pleasure.

The tomb is located along a mountain slope in Luo Ge Tai village of Hengshan County. It is composed of a pathway with a dome-shaped chamber. Pictures are painted on the walls of the chamber. A mural depicts the tomb-owner seated with his five wives, the background being a check-patterned screen. Their outfits and the vessels on the table in front of them shed light on the ethnicity of the tomb-owner.

“He is most likely a Mongolian, but from their clothes, furniture, and all the things painted on the mural, we can still see the influences of the Han culture. So the tomb-owner might also be Han, but wearing Mongolian clothes,” excavation team leader Miao Yifei said.

“The murals are both beautifully painted and in very good condition, just thinking that they’ve been there for some 700 years,” Miao said.

[via Archaeological News]