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3,000-year-old ruins unearthed
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Archaeologists made important discoveries while excavating an ancient building dating back to the late Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 BC) in February. |
Archaeologists made important discoveries while excavating an ancient building dating back to the late Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 BC) in February. According to the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, which sent a team to excavate the ruins, discoveries include the remains of the building, enclosing exterior walls, cemeteries and a number of cultural relics.
The site is known as the Xinzhuang Ruins since it is located in Xinzhuang village, Qingjian County, Shaanxi. The archaeological excavation started at the end of 2012 when the ancient ruins were being damaged and looted by illegal excavations.
The excavation area is some 1,000 square meters, within which the archaeologists found large construction bases and ancillary facilities, as well as a number of cultural relics including containers made of pottery, bone, copper, stone and shells, in addition to stone knives and axes. The most important discovery was a group of large buildings featuring a main building and two levels of corridors that covered an area of 770 square meters.
The total area of the Xinzhuang Ruins is more than 4,200 square meters, making it the second-largest ancient ruins discovered after the Yinxu Ruins in Anyang, Henan Province. The Yinxu and Xinzhuang Ruins were both built in the late Shang Dynasty.
