Chinese archaeologists have found 28 tombs of family members of high-ranking aristocrats, as well as burials of servants and animals dating from the period of the Shang Dynasty (XVI-XI centuries BC) in the urban district of Anyang (Henan Province) in central China, Azernews reports, citing Cui Zongliang, Vice president of the Shenyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

"This is the first time such tombs have been found outside the ruins of [the ancient city of] Yin," Cui Zongliang said.

He added that this discovery provided new information for studying the funeral traditions of the Shang Dynasty.

Shang is a kingdom that existed in the II millennium BC in the center of the modern territory of the People's Republic of China. The most common belief of the inhabitants of the kingdom was the veneration of deceased ancestors.