2,000-year old 'icebox' unearthed in NW China

The "icebox," unearthed in Qianyang county, contained several clay rings 1.1 meters in diameter and 0.33 meters tall, said Tian Yaqi, a researcher with the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology.

The shaft was unearthed about 3 meters underground within the ruins of an ancient building which experts believed was a temporary imperial residence during the Qin Dynasty (221 - 207 BC).

"The shaft led to a river valley, but it could not have been a well," said Tian.

A well, he explained, would have been much deeper as groundwater could not have been reached only 3 meters underground in arid northwest China.

"Nor would it have been possible to build a well inside the house."

Tian and his colleagues believe the shaft was an ice cellar, known in ancient China as "ling yin," a cool place to store food during the summer; Kazinform cites China Daily. See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.