China neolithic site shows cultural interaction

Researchers have uncovered a Neolithic-era site dating back 5,000 years that throws light on the cultural interaction among migrating population in ancient China.
The site in north China's Hebei Province covers an area of 1,700 square metres.
Thousands of pieces of colourful pottery have been unearthed with red the most common, Xu Haifeng, a researcher with the Hebei Cultural Heritage Research Institute, told state-run Xinhua news agency.
The items, unearthed during an ongoing excavation, showed double-ear or tube-shaped pots were popular tools during that period.
The Neolithic Era or New Stone Age was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in the Middle East.

The cooking equipment was advanced as a "Zeng", or an earthen vessel for steaming food, already existed at that time, said Xu, adding all these revealed the life of ancient people.

The site was the forefront of north-south cultural and people exchanges, said Zhang Xiaozheng, head of the excavation team.
"We can imagine a branch of people from current Inner Mongolia and Liaoning Province moved southward with red pottery skills while another moved northward from current Henan Province with relatively advanced colored pottery," Zhang said.
They met in the area of the relic site, he added.