2 cities between 4,000 and 7,000 years old discovered in China
(ORDO NEWS) — Chinese archaeologists during excavations in the central and eastern parts of the country discovered the remains of two previously unknown ancient cities at once, and the age of one of them exceeds 7000 years.
According to the Xinhua news agency, one of the finds was made in the modern city of Zibo, in eastern China‘s Shandong province. A prehistoric settlement founded over 4,000 years ago has been excavated there.
It was named “Gaonan Land”. The settlement was found at a construction site in Zhangdian County, the excavated area is about 20,000 square meters.
The excavations are at the first stage, but scientists have already managed to get a whole collection of ceramic artifacts.
Fang Shui, an official at the provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, explained that the pottery found was used for cooking.
It belongs to the Longshan culture, a late Neolithic civilization that lived along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.
“Based on the current excavations, we can say that this site is a relatively small settlement of the initial period of the Longshan culture.
The excavations are of great academic importance for studying the basic structure of the grassroots settlement of that period,” said Fang.
In parallel, in the city of Anyang in central China, archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a Neolithic settlement that is over 7,000 years old.
Such finds are extremely rare, so excavations provide valuable information about the way of life of prehistoric peoples.
According to the Anyang City Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the excavated site is located in Balizhuang Village and covers an area of about 27,000 square meters.
Radiocarbon dating showed that the settlement was founded here 7800-7400 years ago, that is, it dates from the middle Neolithic period.
Experts associate the prehistoric city with the Peiligang culture – one of the earliest “agricultural” cultures in China, which appeared about 8,000 years ago.
Archaeologists have also discovered an ancient riverbed about 100 meters wide on the southwestern side of the settlement.
This suggests that the settlement was built on the banks of a fairly large river for those times, which has not survived to this day.
Also, archaeologists unearthed prehistoric building materials and foundations of semi-underground structures scattered throughout the study area.
Analysis of the finds suggests that the builders of this city led a sedentary lifestyle. Numerous stone tools were found at the site, including shovels, axes, sickles, grindstones, and pestles.
According to scientists, the Peiligang culture boasts the highest level of development among the various archaeological cultures of the Middle Neolithic.
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