6,000-year-old jade workshop found in China

BEIJING - Chinese archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an ancient workshop dating back 6,000 years that processed jade and stone objects.

The ruins are located in Tonglu county in Zhejiang province, Xinhua reported.

It is for the first time that a workshop for jade and stone processing has been found in China, experts with the Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology said.

Inside the ruins, piles of stone slices and many primitive tools were found. Twenty jade rings each with an external diameter of three to four centimetres were also found.

The find is of great significance for studies on ancient processes to produce stone and jade articles, as well as exchange and transactions in primitive society, the experts said.