Boy, 11, discovers 3,000-year-old sword in river

A boy in an east China province made a huge discovery while washing his hands in a river.

The 11-year-old felt something sharp and dug out this metal sword. When he brought it home, news spread and then offers to buy the sword started flooding in.

His father thought it might be illegal to sell so he sent it to the Gaoyou Cultural Relics Bureau and it determined the weapon came from the Shang or Zhou dynasties from more than 3,000 years ago.

China seems to be a treasure trove for ancient artifacts.

Last year, archaeologists discovered what they believed to be some of the world's oldest known writing. Markings etched on broken axes resemble a modern Chinese character and it dated back roughly 5,000 years.

And a few months later about 80 human skulls were unearthed in the northwestern region where the largest prehistoric Chinese city was found. They are believed to be at least 4,000 years old.

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