Archaeologists in Qinghai Province claimed a 5,000-year-old stone knife with designs of constellations would extend China's history of astronomical observation by 1,000 years.

The finely polished stone knife, six centimeters long and three centimeters wide, was unearthed at the Lamao Ruins, a Neolithic site 9 kilometers west of Lamao Village, Jianzha County, Qinghai Province.

Liu Baoshan, head of the Qinghai Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeological Research Institute, said seven holes on the stone knife clearly formed the Big Dipper.

Liu said China had a long history of astronomy.

The Collection of Ancient Texts records the world earliest solar eclipse in 2137 B.C.

There were records of astronomical phenomena during the Xia (2100 B.C.-1600 B.C.), Shang (1600 B.C.-1100 B.C.) and Zhou (1100 B.C.-221 B.C.) dynasties.

Editor: Catherine