The reporter learned from the joint archaeological team of Guchengcun Ruins in Luoyang, Henan Province that the exploration of Xia culture has made a major breakthrough. In Guchengcun, which faces Erlitou Ruins, the capital of the late Xia Dynasty, across the Luo River, a rammed earth wall was newly discovered. It is very likely that it is the city wall of Erlitou, which Chinese archaeologists have been searching for for more than 60 years.
"The new discovery has expanded the area of Erlitou capital and provided extremely important clues for exploring the overall layout of Erlitou capital." Wang Wei, academician of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that the identification of the city wall will greatly change the understanding of Erlitou capital and the level of development of Erlitou culture.
This is a schematic diagram of the Erlitou site and the Gucheng Village site. Xinhua News Agency
It is reported that the Gucheng Village site is located on the north bank of the Luo River to the north of the Erlitou site. Since the excavation in 2021, three trenches (G1, G2, G3) and a rammed earth wall from the Erlitou culture period have been discovered.
Among them, G2, G3, and rammed earth walls are roughly parallel and are all located in the east and north of the ancient city village site. The discovered parts are all in the shape of a ruler, including parts running southwest-northeast and north-south. The southwest-northeast part is more than 1,800 meters long, and the north-south part is more than 300 meters long.
"G2, G3 and the rammed earth walls are in the same direction as the main remains of the Erlitou site, such as the main roads, walls, and rammed earth buildings. They are of the same era and form an enclosure around the Erlitou site in the east and north directions. Therefore, it is speculated that they are most likely the moats and city walls outside the Erlitou city." said Zhao Haitao, leader of the Erlitou work team of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
This is an aerial photo of the northeast corner of the ancient village ruins in Luoyang, Henan. Xinhua News Agency
The existing area of the central area of the Erlitou site is about 3 million square meters, which is the key point of "searching for Xia". Since the official launch of the first field archaeological excavation in my country with the goal of exploring Xia culture in 1959, the excavation and research of the Erlitou site has continued.
"Build a city to protect the king, build a city wall to protect the people." Ancient Chinese capitals were often built with city walls. However, no city wall has been found at the Erlitou site, which has been a regret for generations of archaeologists.
"Next, we will focus on the age and location changes of the ancient Luo River channel to further clarify the nature of the trenches and rammed earth walls." Zhao Haitao said that the larger distribution range of these trenches and rammed earth walls in the ancient city village site, the connotation, age and nature of the trenches and rammed earth walls themselves and the areas they enclosed, etc., still need further exploration.
At present, relevant excavation and research work is still in progress.