Chinese archaeologists excavate millennium-old Buddhist temples

BEIJING - Archaeological excavations have been launched at the Damagou Tuopulukedun Buddhist Temple Site in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

According to sources, a Xinjiang archaeological team from the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is spearheading the clean-up drive at the site, which is located on the outskirts of Hetian City.

The People’s Daily reported that there are over 20 important sites of Buddhist architecture spread over a range of nearly 100 kilometers from south to north along the Damagou river system.

So far, the Xinjiang archaeological team has excavated four temple sites in the Damagou Town between 2002 and 2010.

Experts believe Damagou holds the largest number and the largest scale of ancient sites in the best condition in the south region of the Taklimakan Desert.

“The discovery and archaeological excavations of the temple sites in the south region of Damagou began in 2002 and most sites we excavated were established during the period from the sixth century to the eighth century,” said Dr. Wu Xinhua, leader of the Xinjiang archaeological team. (ANI)