Period: Peiligang Culture, Neolithic Age (7,000--5,000 BCE)       
Measurements: 8.4 cm in length, 7.8 cm in width
Provenance: Unearthed at Jiahu site, Wuyang, Henan province, 1987

Made of stone and entirely polished, it is in the form of a walking stick’s handle, but with its lower part missing; the object features a semicircle top from the top view, and a half-circle bamboo joint-like ridge on the handle. Some vertical and transverse lines, “T” marks in varying depths have been carved rustically on the top.
   
Human Civilization made significant advancements during the Neolithic Age, wherein agriculture and husbandry became increasingly dependent on mankind instead of nature, despite stone tools being widely used.
   
As comparatively early ones in China to date, the carvings on the object are likely associated with divination or religious beliefs from the time. Its unique forms and signs also serve as physical reference for studies on the development of signs and writing written scripts, as well as the transition of social ideology of the age.