Archaeologists have found a rare pig-shaped piece of pottery in eastern China's Jiangsu Province that may have been a child's toy dating back about 6 years. The pottery was discovered in a neolithic site of Ma'an relics in the city of Wuxi, leading researchers to believe that pigs may have been domesticated in the area 6 years ago.
Li Yiquan, vice president of the Wuxi Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said the pottery pig, the size of a child's fist, had several holes and looked like it had pottery beads inside its hollow body. "Pig-shaped pottery statues have been unearthed at other prehistoric settlements, but we've never seen such hollow pottery pigs before," Li said.
More research is needed to see if this porous pig can be blown like a whistle, Li said. Archaeologists have unearthed more than 260 items, including stone, pottery, and jade items, at the Ma'an Relics site, which spanned multiple dynasties in Chinese history.