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4,000-year-old City Relics Discovered in Central China
If it were not for the thorough research of veteran archaeologists, the residents at Guchengzhai village of Xinmi city, in the northern part of central China's Henan province, would not realize the value of their living place.
Chinese archaeologists recently announced that the Guchengzhai village was a well-preserved city relics constructed more than 4, 000 years ago.
Experts found that three sides of square-shaped city walls and the north and south city gates still remain. The 176,000-square- meters city relics is believed to be the largest and best- preserved one, which was built at the Longshan period about 4,000 years ago, among the ever found historic relics.
According to experts, the city was abandoned around one hundred years after completion.
Li Boqian, chief scientist with the project of dividing China's early history (about 2,000 years ago) into periods, said scientists will search the even earlier origin of Chinese civilization and the recent discovery in Guchengzhai village is of great importance to the research work.
Cai Quanfa, researcher with the Henan Archaeology Institute, who also head the discovery work, said the large project of constructing a city like this is rare in China's prehistoric period and offers precious materials for the research on origin and development of China's city construction.
Analysis on the relics show that the city walls were constructed with advanced technique and they were so firm that most of them still stand well today.
In the city, scientists also discovered relics of foundation of a large palace and some buildings with corridors, which possibly presented the high position and honor of the owner of the city. Some specialists predicted that it might be the old capital of the Yellow Emperor, the reputed ancestor of the Chinese nation, but further proof was still needed.
Scientists also unearthed lots of ancient stoves, wells, house foundations, tombs, and other production tools and household articles in the city.
The experts plan to fully understand the structure of the city in the following six to seven years and the protection work is also on the way.
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