Another cemetery of that ancient era has revealed a surprising find: - At Gurgyam in western Tibet, researchers have discovered an ancient block of tea that shows Tibet's tea culture began about 2,000 years ago, brought there by Han Chinese. It also confirms trade was being conducted across the Tibetan Plateau by 200 BC.
 

 

Researchers have discovered an ancient block of tea that shows Tibet's tea culture began about 2,000 years ago, brought there by Han Chinese.
 

With modern testing techniques, the researchers were able to untangle the chemical components of the find, including its caffeine content, and verify that the block was indeed tea. They have even determined what kind of tea it probably was and published their findings in "Nature Scientific Reports". This finding indicates that tea-drinking in Tibet began 500 years earlier than previously thought.