After testing, Chinese researchers have confirmed that the 3,000 ml of unknown liquid found in a bronze pot unearthed in central China’s Henan province is alcohol dating to the early Western Han dynasty (206 B.C. - A.D. 24).

In a tomb in the city of Sanmenxia, archaeologists discovered the pot with a curved neck in the shape of a swan this May.

The pot in the shape of a swan. (Photo courtesy of Sanmenxia’s Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

Researchers from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) also found that the alcohol was similar to the medicinal liquor recorded in an ancient medical book discovered in the Mawangdui Tombs of the Han Dynasty in Changsha, central China’s Hunan province.

Testing will continue, including a nitrogen isotopic analysis, to obtain more information on raw materials, production processes and functions of the ancient alcohol, according to Yang Yimin, a professor with the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology University under the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“A bronze pot of this kind is rarely seen. The test report from the sample indicates that the pot was used to hold alcohol,” said Zheng Lichao, head of Sanmenxia’s Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

From the tomb, a bronze mirror, a bronze basin and swords made of iron and jade were also unearthed by archaeologists.