6,000-year-old pottery pig found in east China

NANJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists have found a rare hog-shaped pottery item, which might have been a child's toy about 6,000 years ago, in east China's Jiangsu Province.

The pottery pig was discovered at a Neolithic site of the Ma'an Relics in the city of Wuxi, leading researchers to believe that pigs might have been domesticated in the area 6,000 years ago.

The size of a child's fist, the pottery pig has several holes and seems to have pottery beads inside its hollowed body, said Li Yiquan, vice head of the Wuxi institute of cultural relics and archaeology.

"Pig-shaped pottery sculptures have been unearthed at other prehistoric sites, but we have not seen such hollow pottery pigs before," said Li.

The archaeologist said further research is needed to see whether this poriferous pig can be blown like a whistle.

Archaeologists have unearthed more than 260 items including stone, pottery and jade ware from the Ma'an Relics site, which spans multiple dynasties in Chinese history.