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Neolithic Axe Discovered in NW China
Chinese archaeologists have discovered a stone hand axe believed to be from the Neolithic Age at a site of the Qijia Culture in northwest China's Qinghai Province.
The artifact, which experts said was probably used as a musical instrument for special rituals, was of great value to the study of an early state's origin, according to Professor Xu Xinguo, director of the Qinghai Provincial Archaeological Research Institute.
The axe weighs 35 kilograms, is 90 centimeters long and 60 cm wide. It produced a rhythmic sound when it was knocked.
"The stone hand axe, together with some unearthed jade artifacts, indicate the existence of a tribal power center. It could be a great archaeological finding," Prof. Xu was quoted as saying in today's Guangming Daily.
The Qijia Culture flourished in the transition period from the Neolithic Age to the Bronze Age, some 3,500 to 4,000 years ago, according to experts at the institute.
The ruins are located in Lajia Village, Minhe County, at the upper reaches of the Yellow River.
The site includes two half-pit houses. In one house, archaeologists found 14 human skeletons, including adults and children, men and women. One of the women is holding a baby.
Archaeologists from the Qinghai institute and the Archaeological Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Science are working together at the site.
Three archaeologists found the stone artifact by chance when they took shelter from the rain at the house of a local farmer, who had kept the axe in his courtyard for years, the report said.
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