Charismatic Ancient Signs Found in ChinaA group of ancient signs were lately found at the site of Liangzhu Culture on the western bank of Taihu Lake.According to archaeologists, these are markings used by ancients for notching events dating back to the late period of the New Stone Age, more than 1000 years earlier than oracle bone inscription, scripts on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty (16th--11th century B.C.). Further studies are needed to confirm whether there are connections between the two. Located in the Yannan village of Yantou Township, Yixing City of Jiangsu Province, the culture site runs over 600 meters in a north-south direction and 400 meters in width from west to east, covering an area of 250,000 square meters with 10,000 sq. m. high tomb ground at the center. Local museums began to excavate the site in last July and many architecture relics and tombs were found. Besides, numerous ancient jade and stone wares proved that at that time the technique for making stone and jade wares was quite developed. A special symbol shaped like a Chinese character "shan" (mountain) in a 30 meter long, 4 meter wide area was discovered along with some "short vertical strokes" on red-brownish hard earth much to the interest of experts from Shanghai and Zhejiang. Liangzhu Culture belongs to the New Stone Age and is more than 5,000 years old. Its tombs are mainly found in Zhejiang's Yuhang, Fanshan, Yaoshan and Jiangsu's Sidun, Gaochengdun and eastern, southern and northern areas around the Taihu Lake. By PD Online staff member Li Heng |
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