Jon Woo / Reuters

Villagers carry a gravestone of an ancestral tomb away from a construction site in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China on December 18, 2012.

AP

Workers lay the foundations for a residential complex around a solitary tomb site in Taiyuan on December 6, 2012.

A tomb which was left standing in the middle of a Chinese construction site began to be exhumed on Tuesday.

Helped by local villagers, family members relocated four coffins containing the remains of the deceased, Reuters reports.

For seven months a 33-foot mound of earth containing the tomb, the sole survivor from a cemetery that had previously occupied the site, had stood at the center of a building project in the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi province.

Grave interruption: Building around a tomb in China

Some reports had called it a "nail grave" — a variant on the term "nail house", which describes those lone homes that stand in the way of development, like nails stuck in a board that can't be pounded down with a hammer.

'Nail house' holds up traffic as homeowners fight local government

According to local reports cited by Reuters, the family did not fulfill their agreement with village officers which had required them to move the tomb before December 15, saying instead that they were waiting for an auspicious date to perform the relocation. 

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Jon Woo / Reuters

Villagers stand around an ancestral tomb which is being relocated in Taiyuan on December 18, 2012.

Jon Woo / Reuters

Villagers carry coffins containing remains from an ancestral tomb in Taiyuan on December 18, 2012.

AP

Workers lay the foundation for a residential complex around a solitary tomb site in Taiyuan, China's Shanxi province, Dec. 6.

AP

Workers lay the foundation for a residential complex around a solitary tomb site in Taiyuan, China, Dec. 6.

Jon Woo / Reuters

An ancestral tomb, 33 feet high and about 30 square feet, on the construction site of a building in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, in China on Dec. 6.

AP

Workers lay the foundation for a residential complex around a solitary tomb site in Taiyuan, China, Dec. 6.

Developers bought a cemetery and paid villagers to relocate the remains of their loved ones. All except one. The grave has not been moved as the family is waiting for an auspicious date to do so and a reason from the developer for choosing this site, according to the owner of the tomb. The developers are now offering to pay nearly $160,000 to have it moved. The building is scheduled to be completed by April 2013, but for now, construction continues around the gravesite. Last week a home in Zhejiang province, that had been sitting in the middle of a newly built highway as the owners held out for more money, was finally demolished.

More photos from China on PhotoBlog

AFP - Getty Images

Chinese archaeologists at work in the extended excavation of the Pit One of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum in Xian, using delicate equipment to help preserve the detailed work in their original production more than 2,000 years ago, of the latest terracotta warrior find in Xian, China's Shaanxi province.

AFP - Getty Images

Chinese archaeologists at work in the extended excavation of the Pit One of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum in Xian, June 9, 2012.

AP

A terracotta warrior is unearthed at the excavation site inside the No.1 pit of the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xi'an, in central China's Shaanxi province, June 9, 2012.

AFP - Getty Images

Chinese archaeologists at work in the extended excavation of the Pit One of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum in Xian, as they measue and record the dimensions of the latest terracotta warrior find in Xian, China's Shaanxi province, June 9, 2012.

AFP - Getty Images

Chinese archaeologists at work in the extended excavation of the Pit One of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum in Xian, as they measue and record the dimensions of the latest terracotta warrior find in Xian, China's Shaanxi province, June 9, 2012.

Excavations in China have unearthed over 100 new terracotta warriors and other artifacts, at the Qin Shihuang Unesco World Heritage site in Shaanxi province.  The tomb, which was discovered by farmers in 1974 and has been under excavation since 2009, continues to turn up surprises for archaeologists.  They are currently working on their third major excavation and found colorfully painted relics, including a shield used by soldiers in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), painted red, green and white. Full story.

If you want to see them and you're not going to China, there is an exhibition of the terracotta warriors currently on display in New York City. Or you can visit the Terracotta Warriors Museum in Dorchester, England.

Story: How the terracotta warriors were nearly destroyed.