TAIYUAN, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Inscriptions carved on a cliff believed to date back over 800 years have been found in northern China's Shanxi Province, local authorities said Monday.

The inscriptions were found in a local scenic spot in Shifosi Village, Yuxiang Town in the city of Yongji when staff with the scenic spot cleared a road for tourists, according to the city's cultural heritage bureau.

Forty-one Chinese characters can be identified from the carving that measures 1.2 meters high and 1.5 meters wide.

The inscriptions, which recorded road construction work, were carved in 1175 during the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), said Wang Xiaomei, a staff with the bureau.

More than 10 cliff carving inscriptions have been found in the valleys in Yongji, and they were mainly from the dynasties of Song (960-1276), Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing(1368-1912). Most of the contents of those inscriptions recorded construction work of mountain roads and plank roads.