Small Neolithic Vessel Excavated in Central China

HENAN PROVINCE, CHINA—According to a Xinhua report, a 7,700-year-old bottle has been unearthed in central China at the 8,000-year-old Peiligang site. With its small mouth and a pointed bottom, the vessel resembles those made by the Yangshao culture. Li Yongqiang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that the bottle measures about four inches long, making it smaller than those made by the Yangshao culture, which inhabited the region to the north. “This discovery provides fresh and crucial material evidence for exploring the origin and development relationship between the Peiligang culture and Yangshao culture,” Li said. Such vessels are thought to have been used to collect water, for brewing, or as grave goods. Previous research at the Peiligang site has shown that its Neolithic residents made wine, so the researchers suggest that this vessel may have been used to collect yeast. Stone artifacts dated to the late Paleolithic period, fragments of ostrich eggshells, and pieces of red iron ore were also recovered from the site. To read about the Peiligang culture's practice of aquaculture, go to "China's Carp Catchers."