Surprises unearthed at Olympic venue

BEIJING: Workers building venues for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games unearthed more than 1,000 cultural relics from ancient tombs last year, state media reported on Thursday.

About 700 ancient tombs dating from the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) were excavated, Shu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics said.

The tombs found at 10 Olympic construction sites yielded about 1,100 cultural relics, he told.

Among the spectacular finds were elaborate tombs of eunuchs believed to be around 500 years old.    Eunuchs were high-ranking officials that were castrated at a young age and trained to serve the royal court.

Beijing has launched a major construction programme in preparation for next years Olympic Games, including building 31 sports venues.

Experts have previously expressed fear that cultural relics were sometimes being ploughed under by builders who wanted to avoid construction delays caused by archaeological digs.

Construction on an Olympic shooting range was halted for months last year during an extensive dig by cultural relics experts.