China: Three Dock Workers Sentenced for Stealing Cultural Relics

 

            Three Gorges Reservoir              

Global TimesThree dock workers sentenced for stealing cultural relics in Three Gorges Reservoir area Global Times: Aug 18, 2024

Three dock workers have been sentenced to prison by the People's Court of Wushan for stealing cultural relics from Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 25) tombs that were exposed in the Three Gorges Reservoir area.

The individuals—identified as Liu and two accomplices—received prison sentences ranging from three years and 10 months to four years and six months. Each was also fined 30,000 yuan ($4,190).

In 2011, Liu and his co-defendants discovered the exposed tombs when the water level in the reservoir dropped. The trio excavated the site and unearthed 20 items, including bronze drinking and ritual vessels from the Western Han Dynasty. They later turned themselves in to the police and confessed to the theft in March 2024.

Archaeologically, the region of the Three Gorges Reservoir contains a large number of buried cultural relics.The region is also known for the Bachu culture as well as cultural relics of the Han and other eras. Also "2 million years ago, the famous Wushan Man lived in this area", the newspaper says.