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Sixty Beacon
Towers of the Han Period
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????Sixty
beacon towers of the Han period (202 B.C.-16 A.D.) were discovered
in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, in Northeast China. They are
part of the Great Wall defense system built by Emperor Wudi of the
Han Dynasty (156-87 B.C.) in the eastern part of Liaoning Province,
extending from east to west for a distance of 150 km.
???? Since 1998, the city has been seeking the original site of the
Great Wall, and in about a year about 40 Han Dynasty beacon towers
had been found. This important discovery has provided significant
evidence for defining the extent of the ancient Great Wall.
???? Since the spring of 1999, a large investigation team organized
by the Institute of Museums and Cultural Relics and Archaeology
in Liaoning Province has found the sites of more than 40 beacon
towers along the Hun and Suzi rivers in Fushun City, in addition
to the more than 20 beacon towers found in the 1980s.
???? The towers were made of heaped-up earth and stones, in the shape
of round hills with wide bases and small tops. Their average height
is two to three meters, with base diameters being five to eight
meters. Stonewall foundations were found around some of the towers.
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