China neolithic site shows cultural interaction

Excavations of a Neolithic site dating back more than 5,000 years in north China shows cultural interaction among migrating populations in ancient China, said Chinese archaeologists.

The site in Rongcheng county, Hebei province, covers an area of 1,700 square meters. Thousands of pieces of pottery have been unearthed with red the most common, said Xu Haifeng, a researcher with the Hebei Cultural Heritage Research Institute, on Saturday. The excavated items showed double-ear or tube-shaped pots were popular tools.

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," said Zhang.

They met in the area of the relic site, added Zhang.

The excavation of the site is still underway.