Ruins dating back 3,800 years were recently unearthed by archeologists in Shaanxi Province in northwest China.

The ruins at Donglongshan, three kilometers east of the city of Shangzhou in southeastern Shaanxi, are believed to belong to the early Xia dynasty (21th-16th Century BC). This was the first such discovery in the province.

Experts say that the excavations will provide valuable references for studying and accurately apportioning the lengths of the Xia, Shang (16th to 11th Century BC), and Zhou (11th Century-226 BC) dynasties, China's first three dynasties.

A team from the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology last year uncovered 10 housing ruins, 37 tombs, a number of stone knives with perforations, and stone axes, bone articles, and pottery at the site. This followed the discoveries of several ruins dating back to the Shang Dynasty and later Xia Dynasty at the start of the excavation. The excavation began in 1997 covering an area of 400 square meters.

Experts have found that a majority of the decorations on the articles and pottery are unlike those unearthed at the Erlitou Site, which is believed to have been the capital of the Xia Dynasty, in central China's Henan Province.

But items unearthed earlier at Donglongshan are quite similar to those found at the Erlitou Site.

Based on this, Yang Yachang, an assistant researcher in charge of the excavation, believes that the newly found ruins were created by a tribe in the early Xia Dynasty.

China's chronological records date from the year 841 BC during the Western Zhou Dynasty (about 11th Century to 771 BC). Dating the earlier Xia and Shang dynasties remains obscure because of the lack of written records.

The Chinese government organized a research project in 1996 in an effort to discover this "missing history," which has inspired many legends and anecdotes.