A rare type bottle has been unearthed at the Peiligang site in the city of Xinzheng, Central China's Henan province, providing archaeologists (考古学家) with earliest dated artifact (文物) of its kind in China.
Bottles with this unusual shape, (feature) a small mouth and pointed bottom, (be) among the representative artifacts of the Yangshao culture and have been unearthed at dwelling ruins, ash pits and burial sites. There are various (opinion) regarding their function, including being considered a vessel (容器) for water (collect), a brewing container or a burial item.
According to Li Yongqiang, associate researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a preliminary (初步的) estimate of the (new) discovered bottle's age puts it as about 7, 700 years old. It is over 10 centimeters long, very compact and much smaller than the commonly (see) small-mouthed, pointed-bottomed bottles from the Yangshao culture period. The Yangshao culture, dating back 5, 000 to 7, 000years, was a Neolithic culture originated along the middle reaches of the Yellow River.
"This discovery provides fresh and crucial material evidence for exploring the origin and development relationship between the Peiligang culture Yangshao culture," says Li.
