HOHHOT, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists have uncovered two housing sites built about two millennia ago by the nomadic Xianbei ethnic group in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local authorities said.

This is China's first excavation of the housing sites of the early Xianbei people, according to the regional research institute for cultural relics and archaeology.

The ancient semi-crypt houses are located in Keerqinzuoyizhong Banner in the city of Tongliao. Two stoves were found at the sites, along with pottery, ironware and stone tools, indicating that some of the early Xianbei people were no longer nomadic and lived a settled life during this period.

Horseshoe nails were also discovered at one of the housing sites. Previously, China's earliest horseshoe was uncovered in a tomb built in AD 414, and thus these latest relics unearthed are probably the country's earliest physical evidence of the use of horseshoes to date, according to the archaeologists.

A variety of horse patterns were also found on the unearthed pottery, including horses that were galloping and roaming on grassland, reflecting the importance of animal husbandry for the ethnic group.

The Xianbei was one of the major nomadic groups that lived in and around today's northern China thousands of years ago. They eventually established the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534). Enditem