New archaeological discoveries at the capital site of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) in Yanshi district of Luoyang city, Henan province, show that the remains of a gate with two underground water channels have been discovered, believed to be parts of the capital's small city (the capital contains three areas of palace city, small city and large city), providing new evidence for exploring its road system, river distribution, urban layout and function division, said a source from the archaeological team on December 14.
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Apart from the two underground water channels, the remains also include a gate, identified and confirmed as a gate (east gate) of the capital's small city for the first time. The gate has only one gateway about 3.2 meters in width, with rammed-earth grooves and rows of holes for pillars distributed in the south and north of the gateway. 8 holesare inside the grooves in the south while 5 in the north.
Holes on both sides of the gateway. [Photo/Henan Daily]
"Stones have been found in each hole on both sides of the gateway, on which the pillars used as the main structure of the whole gateway stand," said Chen Guoliang, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who heads the archaeological team.
Apart from the gate, two underground water channels were also discovered about 1.8 meters in width and 80 centimeters in height. Slabstones are laid on the channel for the convenience of pedestrians crossing from east to west. As early as 3,500 years ago in the early Shang Dynasty, a three-dimensional transportation system with pedestrian sidewalks and water channels had been formed.
The capital contains three areas of palace city, small city and large city. [Photo provided to Henan Daily]
"Based on the gate location and the river distribution, it can be further identified the site's road system, urban layout and function division, thus exploring whether the site was a capital cityin ancient time," said Chen Guoliang.
The two east-west water channels have been basically unearthed during the latest archaeological excavation. According to Chen Guoliang, with a combination of ground and underground water channels and the connection between the internal and external river systems, the earliest and most complete urban river system of the Shang Dynasty has been discovered at the site, which not only created a pool-distributed landscape covering about 2,600 square meters, but also protected the city with rivers and from waterlogging.
Discoveredin 1983, the capital city site of the Shang Dynasty in Yanshi district of Luoyang city covers an area of about 2 square kilometers. Around the past 40 years, three city ruins (palace city, small city and large city) were discovered at the site. The discovery at this time has made the outline of the site clearer, which is bound to further understand its defense system, road and river distribution and urban function division, thus providing strong support for the in-depth study of the site and new materials for the construction of the site-based park. (Chinese source: Henan Daily APP Reporter: Guo Ge Translator: Zhao Hanqing Broadcaster: Wang Jiaqi Video: Wang Junyi Proofreader: Jiao Dan)
