Neolithic grain barns unearthed in China

ZHENGZHOU — Archaeologists have found a cluster of grain barns dating back more than 6,000 years in Central China's Henan province.

The foundations of 16 grain barns have been excavated in the Huangshan ruins in the city of Nanyang, and traced back to the mid-late period of the Yangshao culture, according to the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology.

The Yangshao culture, dating back 5,000 to 7,000 years, was a Neolithic culture which originated along the middle reaches of the Yellow River.

Round or oval-shaped, the grain barn foundations have an outer diameter of 2.3 to 3 meters, most of them with an inner diameter of around 2 meters.

The grain barns were found surrounding the ruins of houses as well as jade and stone workshops which dated back to the same period, says Ma Juncai, a researcher with the institute.

The grain barns, densely located in proximity, feature similar structures and sizes and substantial storage capacity, Ma says, adding that they were clearly built to store food.

Archaeologists have already found a large amount of millet and some rice and millet seeds in the Huangshan ruins.

"Only a small amount of weeds and seeds have been found at the ruins. Perhaps originally, people here did not engage in agricultural production. Their food resources were supplied or traded from elsewhere," Ma says.

The discovery of the large number of grain barn foundations in the Huangshan ruins recaptures the glory of primitive trade against the backdrop of the development of the jade industry, the researcher adds.

Xinhua