Archaeologists believe, after a year's research, that an ancient distillery unearthed in east China's Jiangxi province can help unveil the mystery of the origin of China's spirit-making history.

Dating back to the imperial Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the distilled spirit brewery found in Lidu, an ancient township, is the most essential find so far in the research of the country's spirit-making history, Xu Pingfang, president of the Archaeological Society of China, said at a recent awarding ceremony of archaeology discoveries.

Considered the earliest and the best-preserved ancient site of spirit making in China, the Lidu brewery was listed as one of the top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2002.

Before the discovery in Lidu, the origin and technology of China's spirit-making industry remained unknown to archaeologists and spirit-making experts.

In 1999, a distillery belonging to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was unearthed in southwestern China's Sichuan province, but the site dated about 200 years later than that in Lidu.

Over 300 items dating from the Southern Song Dynasty (1271-1368) to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), including 70 exquisite ceramic drinking vessels, have been excavated since the site in Lidu was found by workers reconstructing a distillery workshop of a local brewery in June 2002.

The discovery provided the first sound material evidence proving the conclusion of a prestigious Ming Dynasty medicine expert Li Shizhen (1518-1593) that spirit making started in the Yuan Dynasty.

As it was in service through the dynasties of Yuan, Ming and Qing (1644-1911), the ancient distillery can showcase the growth of China's spirit-making technology, according to archaeologists.

Moreover, from the well preserved site, experts can learn much about the whole process of spirit-making from boiling and fermenting to distilling.

A vital and fascinating find was that the unearthed drinking vessels used later in history were smaller in size than those used in earlier days, said Archaeologists. This shows the alcohol content became much denser with the progress of distilling technologies.

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