19 Neolithic tombs discovered in China

Archaeologists have discovered 19 Neolithic tombs and unearthed more than 400 cultural relics in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, local authorities said today.
Most of the relics - consisting of jadeware, stoneware and pottery - date back around 9,000 years, according to the provincial institute of archaeology.
The site was found in the Xiaonanshan ruins of Raohe County along the Wusuli river, a boundary river between China and Russia, and is expected to support the study of the region's history and culture.
"Building those tombs could have been hard in light of the construction ability during that period," Li Youqian, associated with the institute, was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The discovery of the tombs proved there was human settlement in that area at that time. Abundant animal and plant resources in the area also made it possible for human beings to live in the area, archaeologists at the institute said.
The Neolithic Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 15,200 BC.