Ancient Chinese bone needle workshop reveals industrial practices of the 2nd millennium BCE

Recent excavations at the Shimao site in Shaanxi, China, have revealed one of the earliest and, so far, largest bone needle workshops ever discovered. The research published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology by Hua Wang and colleagues provides valuable insights into craft specialization and early state formation in China during the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age (ca. 2nd millennium BCE).