Ancient cliff paintings discovered in N China

Photo taken on Aug 4, 2016 shows an animal-shaped Yinshan cliff painting in Urat Middle Banner of Bayannur county, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. More than 1,000 cliff paintings were found here. [Photo/Xinhua]

Archeologists have discovered over 1,000 cliff paintings dating back more than 1,000 years in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The paintings are surprisingly well preserved, and feature sheep, camels, elks, tigers, wolves and people hunting, said Liu Bin, head of the Cultural Relics Bureau of Urad Middle Banner, on Friday.

The images are believed to have been engraved by the ancient tribal people known as the Tujue, and the Dangxiang, of which the modern day Qiang are descended from, about 1,000 to 1,500 years ago, said the archeologist.

The new findings are among many found across the Yinshan mountain range, and will greatly inform research into ancient nomadic people, he added.

Over 10,000 ancient cliff paintings have been discovered in the Yinshan Mountains.

In 2012, 18 cliff paintings dating back over 4,000 years were discovered in the same area. Among the paintings, seven faces were exaggerated and monstrous, and have been interpreted as the seven stars of the "Big Dipper" constellation.