18 ancient clay seals found in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists have discovered 18 ancient clay seals and two brick-built structures at Bhasu Bihar archaeological site in Bangladesh's Bogra district, 170 km northwest of capital Dhaka, local newspaper The Daily Star reported Saturday

One of the clay seals bears the first "Dharmachakra" message of Gautam Buddha inscribed on it, excavation team member Nahid Sultana was quoted by .

A seven-member team started the excavation work on Nov. 22.

Nahid said most of the 18 seals are 1,000 years old.

A few small pieces of bronze and two ancient brick structures were also found at the site.

Nahid said they could not yet determine the age of the two brick structures but one of them is "very old".

Bhasu Bihar is an important archaeological site in South Asia. According to documents, Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang saw more than 700 monks living there when he visited the place during 639-645 AD.