Israeli, Chinese, and American scientists have dated the pottery fragments excavated from a cave in Henan province to be 18,000 years old. From the Jersualem Post:
Early last week, the team reported that they had reexcavated the site and, using the most well-preserved ceramic fragments, been able to date the bowl to about 18,000 years ago.
[…]Because pottery-making is not usually associated with hunter-gatherers, who foraged to eat and did not domesticate wild animals or plant food, the archeologists were surprised by their findings.
[…Professor of archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jersusalem Yosef Garfinkel] said Wednesday that the significance of the dating of this 18,000 year-old bowl lay in the question of when pottery started. It is generally accepted that Israeli pottery is 8,000 years old, Syrian pottery is 9,000 years old and Japanese pottery – which used to be considered the oldest – is 12,000 years old. But now, it appears that Chinese pottery is even older.
