Ancient pottery unearthed in east China

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 ◆ Ancient pottery unearthed in east China

About 300 pieces of pottery dating from the Warring States period (476 BC - 221 BC) have been unearthed at a construction site in Xintai city, east China's Shandong Province.

All the pottery, with clear and intact inscriptions on 100 pieces, was used for official measurements in the craft industry, Chinese archaeologists said.

The pottery belonged to Qi, a state in the Warring States period.

Since the late Qing Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty, China has only discovered about 100 such articles of relics. It is rare to discover so much Qi pottery with Chinese characters at one time.

The unearthed pottery was valuable in the study of geography, history, and the storing and measuring system of Qi, said the archeologists.