Dig uncovers northern wall of ancient city in China

Dig uncovers northern wall of ancient city
HUANG ZHILING
China Daily

BEIJING: -- Archaeologists in Sichuan province have found ruins thought to be the northern wall of an ancient city that was the political, economic and cultural center of the ancient Shu Kingdom between 5,000 BC and 3,000 BC. The announcement was made by archaeologists from the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Archaeology.

The location of the northern wall has eluded archaeologists for more than 30 years since discoveries in the Sanxingdui Ruins in Guanghan, a tiny city in Sichuan, in the 1980s, when the remains of large palaces, remnants of the eastern, western and southern walls and two large sacrificial pits were discovered.

"Researchers believe the Sanxingdui culture lasted more than 2,000 years, beginning around 5,000 BC," said Chen Xiandan, an archaeologist who has studied the ruins since 1980. "Although the discoveries prove Sanxingdui contains the ruins of an ancient city, archaeologists have been searching for the northern wall for many years."

The ruins thought to be the northern wall are about 20 meters long and 3 meters high, adjacent to the Yazi River and the remnants of a building excavated two years ago. They are made of clay, just like the eastern, western and southern walls, according to Ran Honglin, an archaeologist with the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Archaeology.

The discovery of Sanxingdui occurred in the spring of 1929, when a farmer in Guanghan, Yan Daocheng, found a stone while digging a ditch in his fields. The stone covered a pit that contained jade objects.

The excavations yielded what were considered to be some of the most significant archaeological discoveries in China in the 20th century.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Dig-uncovers-northern-wall-of-ancient-city-30262893.html

-- The Nation 2015-06-23