HOHHOT - Archaeologists have discovered a face-like sandstone carving in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region that crystal analysis has determined to be nearly 7,700 years old.

The figure - 65 centimeters tall and 57 cm wide - was found in Chifeng's Ongniud banner, said Wu Jiacai, an archaeologist at Inner Mongolia Normal University.

The image features two eyes, a mouth and four vertical slits, perhaps meant to indicate teeth.

Wu's team invited archaeological experts from the Russian Academy of Sciences to make comparisons with rock paintings and carvings discovered in Siberia and with other parts of Inner Mongolia.

"Compared with other images, this one is larger in size, more delicately carved and has more refined lines," Wu said.

It was dated using techniques in the field of crystallography, and experimental science that looks at changes in the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids, such as quartz.

Face-like rock paintings and carvings have been found in many areas of Inner Mongolia and have provided information related to studies of ancient human migration and culture, Wu said.

Xinhua