NANJING, CHINA—Eleven-year-old Yang Junxi was playing near the Laozhoulin River in east China’s Jiangsu Province when he found a bronze sword in the sediments. His father contacted the Gaoyou Cultural Relics Bureau where it was identified as a 3,000-year-old artifact from the time of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. “The short sword seems a status symbol of a civil official. It has both decorative and practical functions, but is not in the shape of a sword for military officers,” Lyu Zhiwei, head of the bureau, told Xinhua News. The river had been recently dredged, which may have brought the artifact to the surface. Archaeological investigation of the river and surrounding area is planned.