Land of the 'giants'

"The most difficult part of our work is to size up the area of the remains by scraping off the mud over and over again, and analyzing the soil by virtue of its content and color," he says.

Lines of different lengths are drawn at the site to demarcate areas where there may be more remains. Some of these lines cross or overlap with each other. "It is often like a sandwich, with the ruins of a house lying between two burial sites," says Tang. It suggests the settlers kept moving for a better life, he adds.