Artworks are unearthed at an ancient tomb recently discovered in Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Jan 8, 2019. [Photo/VCG]

Sun Yat-sen University confirmed on Sunday that an ancient tomb was unearthed during construction of a canteen at its Guangzhou South campus.

The university has reported the discovery to government departments, and staff from the Department of Cultural Relics have arrived at the site to investigate it.

An official from the Guangzhou Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology said the elevated location made it an ideal place for people in ancient times to live and entomb the dead. Stone artifacts dating back prehistoric times were found at the university in the 1950s.

Yangcheng Evening News reported that a tomb from the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) was discovered at the university on Jan 10, 1961. In November that same year, a tomb from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) was discovered at the university.

An official from the archaeology institute said the tombs previously discovered had been "ravaged by rampant tomb raiding and smuggling".

A news portal run by Yangcheng Evening News said the institute is collaborating with Sun Yat-sen University on archaeological work at the university's construction sites. Cultural remains from the Han Dynasty, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) have been found in the past, but they were destroyed later as a result of human activity.

The institute said it will ensure the safety of relics discovered in archaeological work.