3,000 year-old Bronze Sword found by a boy in China!

Pretty cool news item came across my newsfeed. A boy playing in the river found a 3,000 year old bronze sword!


WHO: Yang Junxi, an 11-year-old boy
WHAT: Found a 3,000 year-old bronze sword!
WHERE: Jiangsu Province, China
WHEN: July 2, 2014

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An 11 year old young man, Yang Junxi, playing near the Laozhoulin River in Linze Township of Gaoyou County found an ancient cultural relic. He found a 3,000 year old bronze sword in that river/township which is located in the Jiangsu Province of China.

The father of Yang Junxi, Yang Jinhai, considered his options after neighbors flocked to his home to check out the relic. Some offered to buy the sword from Yang Jinhai, but he felt it was illegal to sell the cultural relic. After a month and a day, the elder Yang decided to send the sword to the Gaoyou Cultural Relics Bureau on Sep 3, 2014.

Initial identifications found the 26 cm-long yellow-brown sword could be dated back to more than 3,000 years ago, around the time of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, said Lyu Zhiwei, head of the cultural relics office of the bureau.

"There was no characteristic or decorative pattern on the exquisite bronze sword. Made in a time of relatively low productivity, its owner would have been an able man with the qualification to have such artifact," he said.

"The short sword seems a status symbol of a civil official. It has both decorative and practical functions, but is not in the shape of sword for military officers."

It is the second bronze artifact found in the region after a bronze instrument was excavated in the nearby Sanduo Township.

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The relics bureau and municipal museum of Gaoyou City have sent the collection certificates and bonus for the boy and his father in honor of their deeds of protecting and donating cultural relic.

For the full story, please check: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2014-09/06/c_133625745.htm