More than 4,000 exquisite statues of Buddha and pagoda molds were recently unearthed at the mausoleum of the Xixia emperor in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Nearly a quarter of the statues are well-preserved. The most noteworthy was a statue of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, who sits in the lotus position.

The clay molds for making pagodas range in height from five to 15 centimeters. Some were painted with colorful designs and gilded.

Chinese archeologists have also found the remains of a 1.8-meter-tall man at the northwestern corner of a pit outside the mausoleum. He was found with his head just inside the mausoleum and both legs stretching out from the pit. Archeologists believe he was a gravedigger.