A tablet with hieroglyphs was found in the city of Jingzhou, located in Henan Province. It contains the following examples of multiplication: five times seven equals thirty-five, four times seven equals twenty-eight, three times seven equals twenty-one, MIR 24 reports.

According to archaeologists, these symbols are about 100 years older than another similar multiplication table previously discovered in Hunan province.

Historian Tang Jingnan believes that such a multiplication table was used by officials of the Zhanguo period (4th century BC).

Scientists reportedly used infrared scanning to reveal the words inscribed on the tablet.