Neolithic earthenware uncovered in Shaanxi ( 2004-01-19 14:36) (Xinhua)
Two farmers in the
northwestern China province of Shaanxi have uncovered two earthen jars in white
and brownish red that are confirmed by experts to be at least 5,000 years old.
Wu Tao and his wife Zhao Caining, natives of Sunjiacun village in Meixian
County, discovered the two jars when digging in their farmland.
One of the jars was intact with a white coating and brownish red patterns on
its upper part, and the other had been broken, with similar patterns still
visible on its pieces, said Wu.
Liu Huaijun, a cultural heritage expert with the county's museum, assumed the
two jars could have been sacrificial objects that had been buried with the dead
during the Yangshao culture period, 5,000 to 7,000 years ago.
"Sunjiacun village borders Baijiacun village, where archeologists have
discovered ruins of the Yangshao culture over the past years," he said.
Liu said the white coating on the jars was similar to earthenware pieces
unearthed in central China's Henan Province and northwestern Gansu Province.
"They may provide clues to historians for further study on the cultural
exchanges between these regions in the ancient period of history," he said.
The Yangshao culture was formed in the Neolithic period in China, and its
relics were first unearthed in Yangshao Village of Henan Province in 1921.