1,500-year-old tomb of aristocratic woman discovered in China

Archaeologists have discovered a 1,500-year-old tomb of an aristocratic woman in a pasture region of northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, state media reported today.
Experts so far have only been able to identify the tomb's owner as an aristocratic woman of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Archaeologists opened the pinewood coffin on Saturday and found the remains of a person wrapped in silk clothing, state news agency Xinhua reported.
She had thick black hair with a metal headband and wore fur boots, the report said.
It is not yet known which ethnic group the woman was from.
Archaeologists found a bow, a dagger, pottery jars and bowls in the tomb.

Zhuang Yongxing, deputy head of the cultural bureau in Xilin Gol City, said archaeologists performed a rescue excavation of the tomb after tomb raiders were caught digging a 10-meter-deep hole toward the tomb entrance.
Archaeologists have collected the woman's hair for technical analysis, which is expected to lead to information such as her age and diet habits.
Two other tombs of the same period have been discovered in the past two years in adjacent areas, which have shown the locality is an important burial site for aristocrats of the Northern Wei period, the report said.