Four ceramic balls unearthed in northeast China are believed to be weapons of ancient hunters some 3,000 years ago.

Chinese archeologists discovered four such balls, 2-4 centimeters in diameter, in Guanghe County, Gansu Province, and before the finding people only knew of the ceramic balls from historical documents.

The balls are red, yellow and black. Some are solid with slick surfaces, some are hollow with fictile grains inside.

"These ceramic balls, in their shapes, sizes and weights, are very suitable for people to hurl by hand or with a rope," said Wang Donghai, deputy head of the provincial institute of colored pottery in Gansu.

"They must be efficient in hunting fast running animals," he said, adding that the hollow ceramic balls would make sounds during the movement.

The four balls provide evidence about the life of ancient people recorded in historical documents. They are of great value also for studies on ceramic culture, the history of human development and the history of Chinese civilization, said Wang.

Pottery in China has a history of more than 10,000 years, and pottery ware has been serving as human's daily necessity for thousands of years, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2004)