The infrastructure, which was found at the Chinese walled site of Pingliangtai, was created during the Longshan period about 4,000 years ago.

“The discovery of this ceramic water pipe network is remarkable because the people of Pingliangtai were able to build and maintain this advanced water management system with stone-age tools and without the organisation of a central power structure,” said Dr Yijie Zhuang of University College London (UCL), corresponding author on the paper.

“This system would have required a significant level of community-wide planning and coordination, and it was all done communally.”

The ceramic water pipes make up what is thought to be the oldest complete drainage system ever discovered in China. Made by interconnecting individual segments, the water pipes run along roads and walls to divert rainwater and show an advanced level of central planning at the neolithic site.

The researchers said that the settlement of Pingliangtai...