China s oldest sculpture among top 10 discoveries of 2020
By Xu Xiaoxuan
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Composite image showing views of the ancient Chinese bird sculpture from different angles. [Photo/VCG]
A 13,500-year-old bird figurine unearthed at the open-air Lingjing site, an archaeological site in central China s Henan province, has made the list of the world s top 10 discoveries in 2020 published by U.S. magazine Archaeology.
Measuring just 0.75 inches long, 0.2 inches wide and 0.5 inches high, the carved bird has a stout body, short head, round beak and long tail.
Six different carving techniques have been employed to craft the bird, a member of the order Passeriformes, or songbirds, from a heated and charred mammalian limb bone.