Archaeologists working in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China have uncovered a bronze blowpipe in the Yanghai Tombs at Turpan.
    "The function of the blowpipe is much like that of the blast blowers which  people are using now," said Lu Enguo, a research member with the Xinjiang  archaeological research institute. "Although we discovered bronze blowpipes several years ago in Kuqa County  and the northern part of Xinjiang, they were all made in the Han (206 BCE - 220 BCE)  and the Tang (618 CE - 907 CE) dynasties. But after research we concluded that the blast blower we discovered in the  Yanghai Tombs was made in the Warring States period (475 BCE - 221 BCE), the  oldest one we ever discovered in this region"
     "It proves that as early as 2,500 years ago the local people living in  Xinjiang had grasped the ability to smelt bronze," said Lu.
    The Yanghai Tombs were used from 1,000 BCE right through to the Christian era, and have yielded pottery, wooden wares and textiles.

Source: China View (6 June 2004)