A large number of pottery pellets have been discovered in the
famous Yin Ruins in central China, and now an archaeologists said
they might have been used as catapult missiles more 3,000 years
ago.
The ancient pellets were found in pits and tombs of the Yin
Ruins in Anyang, capital of the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1100 BC).
Yin was the ancient name for the Shang Dynasty. The ruins were
first discovered in 1928, and numerous findings have since been
made.
The pellets, made of red clay, were 1 centimeter in diameter,
and most of them were polished, said Miao Xia, a researcher with
the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences.
In one of the ancient tombs, several hundred pellets were
unearthed.
"The pellets were very hard. It seemed that the pellets had
close connection with the daily life of the ancients," Miao
said.
The Yin Ruins are famous for the discovery of inscribed animal
bones and tortoise shells, known as oracle bones. The inscriptions
on bones and shells, used for divination by Shang emperors, are the
earliest known examples of Chinese characters.
In the pictographic inscriptions on bones and shells, experts
found a character for bow was drawn as a bow with a pellet at the
center.
"We infer that the pottery pellets were catapult missiles used
by ancient hunters," Miao said.
Such kind of catapult was popular in ancient China. The hunters
might have used the catapults and pottery bullets to shoot birds
and animals in order to get furs intact, Miao said.
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(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2006)
