QINGDAO -- Chinese archaeologists have discovered more than 40 painted pottery items at a tomb dating back around 2,000 years in East China's Shandong province.

The items, including figurines of people and horses as well as different kinds of pots, were found in Pingdu in the city of Qingdao after an excavation that started in June 2018.

"The figurines of attendants, chariots and horses indicate that the tomb owner may have been an official in the ancient state in Shandong during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD)," said Lin Yuhai, head of the Qingdao institute of cultural relics preservation and archaeology.

All the heads of the horses were positioned towards the southeast, which was the direction of the ancient capital of Jimo in Shandong Peninsula around 2,000 years ago, according to archaeologists.

Excavation is ongoing on another site nearby, and archaeologists have found a total of 15 tombs that are estimated to date back to the mid-West Han Dynasty (206 BC- 8 AD) and belonging to two big families.