Two ancient tombs and three areas of rock paintings dating back thousands of years were discovered in Qonggyai river valley of Tibet's Lhoka Prefecture in July this year, China News reported.

Chen Zujun, a researcher with the Tibet Cultural Relic Protection Institute said that since the first trial excavation of the Lhoka’s Bangga relic in 1985, archaeologists have conducted several archaeological surveys, trial digging and excavations. For various reasons, materials can’t be officially released so far.

One of the two tombs is a grave mound and is close to the site of the second rock painting; the other is an earth mound. The rock paintings in the latter area are all located on the separate rocks on either side of the river. Most of the paintings are concentrated at the first site with the biggest number, according to Chen.

In the early 7th century, Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo established the Tubo Dynasty, promoting the integration between Tibetan language and culture, and achieving cultural development on the entire Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Lhoka, located south of the Gangdise and Nyanchen Thanglha Mountains, and at the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, is the cradle of ethnic Tibetans and the Tibetan culture.

Chen said that the big majority of rock painting content is yet to be identified. Among the identified content includes the symbol "卍"(Yongzhong)and the sign "卐" .

"The discovery of these rock paintings provides new and important research material on the early history of the Qonggyai river valley in the Yarlung tribal central area and attains high academic value," said Chen Zujun.