The finding was made at the Xielaozhuang (XLZ) site in the Henan province of North China. The site belonged to the Peiligang culture (ca. 9,000–7,000 BP), which was one of North China’s most significant Neolithic cultures. It was known for being among the earliest producers of fermented beverages, creators of the oldest tonal flutes, basic textile weavers and sewers, and possibly one of the earliest users of the Chinese script.

The analytical challenge was the multiple-discipline method, especially starch-granule analysis. Our team did not know how to recognize the species of the starch granules. But, finally, we did it."

They concluded that bone powder was likely ground up and cooked together with various wild plants, including acorns and Job’s tears.

This was particularly interesting because, despite agriculture having been developed in China around 10,000 years ago, the Peiligang culture made limited use of cultivated crops and animals, including foxtail millet, common millet, rice, and pigs. In fact, no domesticated crops were found in the crust-residue at XLZ, and from previous zooarchaeological analyses, it was known that domesticated animals, such as pigs, only made up around 10% of all remains.