In the vicinity of modern Beijing is a place Linssen, where in the course of archaeological works found a tiny statuette of a bird. After years of research in the scientific institutions of the four countries were able to establish the age of DIY. He is 13.2-13.4 thousand years, which takes us to the Early stone age. Or more than 8 000 years before the New stone age refers to the oldest known Chinese artifact, a jade figurine of birds aged about 5 thousand years.
Fifteen years of research needed to prove that it is really a piece of art of the ancestors of the Chinese nation, and he is really much older than all existing. In addition, was settled disputes about the nature of statues, the original figure size of only 12 mm a was chip. Found her in a pile of dirt, away from official excavations, the villagers dug a well and threw the ground nearby. Just in case of archaeology it was sifted and found some shards and a figure.
Failed to establish that the figurine is carved from the bones of the limbs of the animal, and material for greater stiffness and durability burned. The product depicts a Sparrow sitting on the perch, a well-known cultural symbol of the Neolithic in China. But the figures have a great feature – for some reason the wizard did not work out his legs, and immediately placed the bird on a pedestal. It is possible to interpret as a reference to the culture of the people living farther to the West from China that confronts scientists new questions.
Source — PLOS One