Unusual Shaped Rock with intricate curved pillars discovered in mountains in China

Xia Changjun reportedly found the rock as he drove in a mountain in central China's Hubei Province, and he decided to bring it home because he found it 'unusual'.

Not only Mr. Xia, local historians are also puzzled by the shape of the stone as they tried to find out whether it was carved by ancient people or shaped by nature.

Xia Changjun saw the large rock by the hillside when he was driving in a mountain near Baokang county in Xiangyang in April, according to People's Daily Online.

He said he spotted a funny-looking rock with holes on it. He pulled off his car and started digging.

Noticing the majority parts of the rock are buried underground, Xia contacted the landlord and bought the rock.

Xia spent a week digging the rock out.

The oval-shaped rock weighs about six tonnes, 2.8 metres long (nine feet), 2 metres wide (6.6 feet) and 1.6 metres tall (5.2 feet).

The rock has three tiers. 




The base is formed by several stone pillars, giving support to the upper layers.

The middle layer has seven holes and the top tier has a flat platform, with five pillars standing on one side.

Wang Qingxiang, an expert on the culture and history of Hubei and Hunan, is also puzzled by the strangely shaped rock.

Mr. Wang told a reporter that he was not sure if the shape of the rock was natural or it had been hand carved by the ancestors living in the area.

However, Mr. Wang identified it as a basalt stone.

Mr. Wang also suggested the rock could have served as an altar table for ritual purpose or even a wartime signal in ancient times.

The man claimed that a buyer had offered to purchase his 'UFO rock' for 100,000 yuan (£11,765) this week, but he turned down the offer.

'I didn't sell it. This is too precious to me,' said Xia.

Xia said the rock was too massive that he could only use a crane to carry it home.


Music: "River of Io" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: People's Daily China , Daily Mail.

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