CHONGQING -- Archaeologists have unearthed 53 sites of ancient cultural remains and 278 relics during an evacuation project in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from April to October.

The artifacts were believed to date back as early as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 B.C.-256 B.C.) in a historic site that covers about 1,000 square meters at the lower reaches of Jialing River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, in Chongqing, said the municipal institute of archaeology.

The six-month project completed 675 square meters of the total and found a large number of relics, including pits, tombs, pottery, porcelain, stoneware, and copper coins, spanning from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

"A batch of remains from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) was also found at the site, which is very rare and of high value for the ancient cultural study along the tributaries of the Yangtze River," according to the head of the project.