The pottery eagle discovered at the Neolithic City of Shimao in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on display, November 18, 2020. /CFP
The Neolithic City of Shimao in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has been listed among the top 10 archaeological findings of the past decade by the U.S.-based Archaeology journal.
Over the past 10 years, excavators have uncovered the stone city with immense fortifications and sophisticated infrastructure, thousands of luxurious artifacts and a 70-meter-high stepped pyramid, said the journal published by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA).
The Neolithic City of Shimao in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has been listed among the top 10 archaeological findings of the past decade by the U.S.-based Archaeology journal. /Screenshot via Archaeology website
Spanning 4 million square meters, the lost city dating back to 2,300 BC is located on the edge of the Muus Desert in Gaojiabao Town, Shenmu City. It was a super-large central settlement and regional political center in the late Longshan Culture period in northern China.
The site consists of three parts, including the core imperial city pyramid, the inner city and the outer city. Archaeologists originally thought its ancient stone walls were part of the Great Wall of the Warring States Period. But further intensive examination discovered 70 stone-relief totems inside the walls or on where the collapsed walls once stood, unmasking a much older and more complex city.
Stone carvings found at the Neolithic City of Shimao in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. /Xinhua News Agency
"They (stone-relief totems) were specially polished and carved, and used as building materials to be laid inside the walls," said Shao Jing at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, who co-leads the archaeological work at Shimao ruins. "Their carving skills were very mature, showing the height of early Chinese civilization."
More than 20 mouth harps and whistles, numerous pottery shards, thousands of bone needles and linen sheets were also found. Hundreds of tiles also suggest that there were large-scale palace-like buildings on the top of the pyramid.
"We can imagine that Shimao had a very powerful kingdom over 4,000 years ago," said Shao, who called it "the largest city site existed in northern China" of the time.
"This kingdom had a distinct hierarchy, a large population, and a management system to maintain its rule. The city's buildings were in order and well-built, and the royal family lived on the imperial pyramid. Large-scale banquets were held, during which mouth harps, whistles and other musical instruments were played," he added.
The ruins of the Neolithic City of Shimao in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, November 12, 2020. /CFP
The city was abandoned about 300 years later during the Xia Dynasty (2100-1600 BC), the first Chinese dynasty described in historical chronicles.
In 2018, the State Council Information Office announced that Shimao ruins, along with Liangzhu Ancient City in Zhejiang, Taosi site in Shanxi, and Erlitou site in Henan, constitute an important evidence for the 5,000-year history of the Chinese civilization.
In May 2019, six projects including the Shimao ruins were added to China's Tentative List for World Heritage Sites.
Established in 1879, the Archaeological Society of America is the earliest established, most influential international archaeological research institution in the world.
Other top 10 discoveries listed by the journal include the Neanderthal genome in Vindija Cave, Croatia; a mummification workshop in Egypt; and the grave of the "Griffin Warrior" in Greece.