Very early Neolithic wells are known from the Eastern Mediterranean.[1] The oldest reliably dated well is from the pre-pottery neolithic (PPN) site of Kissonerga-Mylouthkia on Cyprus. At around 8400 BC a shaft (well 116) of circular diameter was driven through limestone to reach an aquifer at a depth of 8 metres (26 ft). Well 2070 from Kissonerga-Mylouthkia, dating to the late PPN, reaches a depth of 13 metres (43 ft). Other slightly younger wells are known from this site and from neighbouring Parekklisha-Shillourokambos. A first stone lined[2] well of 5.5 metres (18 ft) depth is documented from a drowned final PPN (c. 7000 BC) site at ‘Atlit-Yam off the coast near modern Haifa in Israel.
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Wood-lined wells are known from the early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture, for example in Ostrov, Czech Republic, dated 5265 BC,[3] Kückhoven (an outlying centre of Erkelenz), dated 5300 BC,[4] and Eythra in Schletz (an outlying centre of Asparn an der Zaya) in Austria, dated 5200 BC.[5]
The neolithic Chinese discovered and made extensive use of deep drilled groundwater for drinking.[citation needed] The Chinese text The Book of Changes, originally a divination text of the Western Zhou dynasty (1046 -771 BC), contains an entry describing how the ancient Chinese maintained their wells and protected their sources of water.[6] A well excavated at the Hemedu excavation site was believed to have been built during the neolithic era.[7] The well was cased by four rows of logs with a square frame attached to them at the top of the well. 60 additional tile wells southwest of Beijing are also believed to have been built around 600 BC for drinking and irrigation.[7][8]
In Egypt, shadoofs and sakias are used.[9][10] The sakia is much more efficient, as it can bring up water from a depth of 10 metres (versus the 3 metres of the shadoof). The sakia is the Egyptian version of the noria. Some of the world's oldest known wells, located in Cyprus, date to 7000–8,500 BC.[11] Two wells from the Neolithic period, around 6500 BC, have been discovered in Israel. One is in Atlit, on the northern coast of Israel, and the other is in the Jezreel Valley.[12]
Wells for other purposes came along much later, historically. The first recorded salt well was dug in the Sichuan province of China around 2,250 years ago. This was the first time that ancient water well technology was applied successfully for the exploitation of salt, and marked the beginning of Sichuan's salt drilling industry.[6] The earliest known oil wells were also drilled in China, in 347 CE. These wells had depths of up to about 240 metres (790 ft) and were drilled using bits attached to bamboo poles.[13] The oil was burned to evaporate brine and produce salt. By the 10th century, extensive bamboo pipelines connected oil wells with salt springs. The ancient records of China and Japan are said to contain many allusions to the use of natural gas for lighting and heating. Petroleum was known as Burning water in Japan in the 7th century.[14]