Pottery dish over 2,000 years old found in North China's Hebei

SHIJIAZHUANG -- An item of pottery used for serving food was found recently in Guangzong county, North China's Hebei province, according to the local cultural relics protection department.

The item was well preserved and believed to belong to the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), dating back more than 2,000 years. The grey pottery item appears to be a dish, measuring 22 cm high and with a diameter of 19 cm. There are no decorative patterns on it.

Guo Hongwei, from the county's cultural relics protection institute, said that the item's plate is shallow and small, and therefore would have been used to serve side orders, rather than staple foods such as rice. The design is probably the predecessor of porcelain plates.

"The discovery of this pottery has added new materials for the study of ancient pottery-making culture and oriental food culture," Guo said.