YINCHUAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A piece of oracle bone was discovered at an archaeological site in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the local cultural department said Tuesday.

The oracle bone was unearthed in a path leading to a tomb, located in the Yaoheyuan Ruins, at the end of December. Archaeologists said the bone was an ox scapula, with one side carved with more than 30 characters.

Oracle bone experts preliminary interpreted those words as "a man led 30 people to patrol five places." A man's name and five places were mentioned. Further research is ongoing.

The oracle bone could be strong evidence that the ruins belonged to the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 B.C to 771 B.C.), the provincial culture department said.

Yaoheyuan Ruins, covering an area of more than 600,000 square meters, is located in Pengyang County of Ningxia. The ruins were approved for excavation in June 2017.

Thirteen tombs and more than 3,000 cultural relics, including bronze, jadeware and bone items have been unearthed at the site so far.