Ancient ostrich eggshell workshop unearthed in China's Henan

ZHENGZHOU, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists have confirmed the discovery of the remains of a 26,000-year-old ostrich eggshell workshop at the Peiligang site in central China's Henan Province.

Excavations revealed large quantities of ostrich eggshell raw materials, production waste and finely crafted bead ornaments, including some dyed with hematite -- evidence of early aesthetic expression, according to Wu Xiaoying, an assistant researcher at the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The Peiligang site is renowned as one of the birthplaces of Chinese agricultural civilization. Recent findings confirmed that the lower layer of the site contains Late Paleolithic remains dating back 36,000 to 14,000 years.

Li Yongqiang, an associate researcher at the institute, emphasized that such discoveries are crucial for exploring the transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic in the Central Plains region.