|
An
Early Shang City Site in Jiaozuo,
Henan Province
|
????Excavated
in 1999, the Shang relic at Fucheng of Jiaozuo, Henan Province covers
an area of about 1700 square meters. In the middle section of the
site, an early city site of the Shang Dynasty with rammed foundations
and house bases was also found. The city was in the form of a square.
Its extant western wall is about two meters high, 300 meters long
and 4-8 meters wide. The remaining north city wall is about 300
meters long, and two to three meters high. The restored eastern
wall is about 300 meters long. Only the underground trenches of
foundations of the south wall remain. The foundation trenches, about
15 meters wide and 0.9 meters deep, were dug first, and then covered
with planks and rammed tight with earth. The No. 1 rammed foundation
is located at the northeast section of the city, in the form of
a rectangle, 70 meters long from south to north, and 40 meters wide
from east to west. The site was divided into two compounds, in the
center of which was the principal hall. Under the Nos. 1, 2 and
3 foundation sites, a layer of the Erlitou Stage Culture was overlapped.
The unearthed pottery wares mainly include gray clay pottery, deep-bellied
jars with round bottoms, round-bellied jars, molded-mouth jars and
bigmouth wine vessels (zun), which are similar to their counterparts
of the Erlitou Culture.
????
?? The Fucheng early Shang site is another important discovery following
the discoveries of the Shang city sites at Zhengzhou and Yanshi
in Henan Province. The new discovery is of significant academic
value for the study of the early Shang culture in Henan Province,
and the material culture and social life of the time.
|
