Chinese archaeologists have discovered ruins of a fort dating back to the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280) in east China's Anhui Province recently.

This is the only ancient fort ever discovered in this eastern Chinese province. They are rare in other parts of China as well, said Li Dewey, head of the archaeological team.

The site covers an area of 80,000 square meters in the suburbs of Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, the ancient territory of the Kingdom of Wei, one of the Three Kingdoms.

The castle has three gates, two on the eastern wall and the other, on the western wall. Archaeologists have found traces of the ancient walls built with packed earth.

Other objects discovered at the site included the ruins of a smelting furnace, half of a stone mill, 2,000 arrowheads, rammers and axes, and some food containers such as basins, jars and kettles.

Archaeologists discovered a drill ground, a command platform and scores of round stones each having a diameter of between 15 mm and 30 mm near the eastern gate.

The Kingdom of Wei began building the castle in 230 and finished in 233. Wei stationed 5,000 or 6,000 soldiers in the fort for almost 50 years, Li said.

The Wei repulsed 11 military attacks launched by enemy Kingdom Wu, and the castle played an important role for Wei in defending its territory during ancient wars, Li said, adding that it was listed by the provincial government as a site of cultural relics in 1998.

During the Three Kingdoms period, the rival states of Wei, Shu and Wu existed side by side. Wei and Wu occupied each side of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, while Shu was located in present Sichuan Province.