3,600 yrs old handicraft workshop discovered
Zee News, India
Beijing, Aug 28: Chinese archaeologists may have found one of the world`s oldest handicraft workshops, dating back more than 3,600 years, in central China`s Henan province, the state media reported.
Covering about 1,000 square meters, the workshop used turquoise to make elaborate and ornate works of art. The workshop was found in the village of Erlitou of Yanshi city and is part of the ruins of the imperial city belonging to the Xia dynasty (2100 b.C.-1600 b.C.), China`s earliest.
The imperial city was discovered two years ago.
At the workshop, crafts people made ornaments with inlaid turquoise, said Xu Hong, head of the team of archaeologist studying the site.
Xu and his colleagues, from the Archaeological Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, excavated the area after they found scraps of turquoise in a pit in 2004.
He said the workshop was likely used for at least 200 years, Xinhua news agency reported.
They also found ruins of a wall around the workshop, which was across a road from the imperial city, he said.
“This shows that the workshop was used to serve the imperial family, judging from its close location to the imperial city,” Xu said.
In 2002, archaeologists discovered a 70-cm-long turquoise dragon, formed with more than 2,000 pieces of turquoise of various shapes, in the ruins of the palace.
“Probably, the turquoise dragon was made at this workshop,” Xu said.
Chinese archaeologists dubbed the artifacts the “dragon of China”, saying it is the earliest evidence of the Chinese infatuation with dragons.
Bureau Report