7,700-Year-Old Bottle Found in China, Allegedly for Making Yeast

The 7,700 year old bottle was found in China, precisely at the Peiligang site in Xinzheng City, Henan Province, Central China. The bottle was thought to be for making yeast. This bottle has an unusual shape, namely a small mouth, a pointed bottom, It is known to be one of the representative artifacts of the Yangshao culture and has been unearthed in residential ruins, ash pits and burial sites. There are various opinions regarding its function, including as a water storage container, beer brewing container, or burial place.
One of the archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li Yongqiang, stated that the initial estimate for the age of the newly discovered bottle was around 7,700 years old. More than 10 centimeters long, it is very compact and much smaller than similar bottles commonly seen from the Yangshao culture. The Yangshao culture, which dates from 5,000 to 7,000 years ago, is a Neolithic culture that originated in the middle reaches of the Yellow River.
This discovery provides new and important material evidence to explore the origins and developmental relationships between the Peiligang culture and the Yangshao culture.
combined with previous discoveries that settlers at the Peiligang site had learned how to use red yeast fungi for fermentation and winemaking.
The newly discovered bottle may be the container used by our ancestors to make yeast.
In addition, archaeologists have discovered a large number of late Paleolithic stone artifacts, ostrich egg shell fragments, pieces of red iron ore and other items at the Peiligang site. These findings provide new material for the study of major topics such as the social landscape of the late Paleolithic in the Central Plains region of China and the transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic.
The Peiligang site, which is approximately 7,600 to 8,000 years old, is a typical agricultural settlement site with an area of ​​50,000 to 60,000 square meters. This city is famous as one of the birthplaces of Chinese agricultural civilization.