At around 2000 BCE, Ancient China began the use of incense in the religious sense, namely for worship.[13] Incense was used by Chinese cultures from Neolithic times and became more widespread in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.[14] The earliest documented instance of incense utilization comes from the ancient Chinese, who employed incense composed of herbs and plant products (such as cassia, cinnamon, styrax, sandalwood, amongst others) as a component of numerous formalized ceremonial rites.[12] Incense usage reached its peak during the Song dynasty with numerous buildings erected specifically for incense ceremonies.