Remains of 3,000-year-old dead city discovered on South China’s Silk Route

Maria Mocerino
Mon, December 30, 2024

Archaeologists unearthed a 3,000-year-old Shang city in Southern China, making it the oldest ever found in the region of Lingnan, famous for marking the departure point of the Silk Road.

At the top of the famous trade route, the ancient site boasts an impressive size of 75,790 square feet. At first glance, however, the land appeared unused; thus, plans to develop it had been diffused.

Once patterned bricks and broken pottery shards surfaced, all work stopped. Archaeologists were brought in to investigate further, and they unearthed a wealth of remains and relics.

After a three-month dig, they confirmed the remarkable grounds belonged to the latter as the region’s very first city, marking a significant point of evolution in societal development.

Niuluchong site / South Morning China Post
Archaeologists uncover walls, pottery, and stone tools

First discovered in 2022, construction workers halted operations because they had unexpectedly found signs of archaeological remains. At first, there didn’t seem to be much there.

Once archaeologists arrived swiftly at the scene, they began to uncover well-preserved walls, as He Anyi, lead archaeologists, said via South China Morning Post. One of which is even a few feet tall.

“The north and west walls of the entire city site are well preserved, among which the west wall is the best preserved, and the highest part of the west wall may be about 1.4 metres,” Anyi said.

Upon first review back in April, they had believed that the Niuluchong site dated between the late Neolithic and early Shang dynasties upon the first review. Soon, it became clear that the ancient city more accurately belonged to the latter.

Along with double walls, according to The Sun, archaeologists confirmed the presence of ash pits, pillar holes, pottery, and stone tools. They even recovered a “severely rusted” bronze sword, they believe, as per SCMP. It has yet to be confirmed due to the preservation state of the relic. Moats, they mentioned, were unusual in comparing Niuluchong to other early settlements, which indicates an advancement or a new feature rarely seen at that time.

An ancient city on the future Silk Road

As the earliest city from the Shang dynasty, excavations are planned to continue. The ancient city may hold an even greater wealth of artifacts that could supply archaeologists with new information about China's second oldest rulership (c1600-1050BC) and the region.

Later seen as a “barbarian land” by the Chinese court, the Lignan region originally spanned Hong Kong and Northern Vietnam. But it would reach new heights of stature at the dawn of the Silk Road, around the second century BCE. The Han dynasty established the Silk Road as the Shang rose to prominence around 1750 BCE. Still, they did invent writing, developed a stratified government, and advanced bronze technology, according to Stanford University.

For Chinese history and culture, the Shang significantly contributed to the evolution of the civilization. The site, aside from being at the beginning of the Silk Road, holds a profound relevance as the oldest center of the dynasty with signs of advancements in urban development might bring to light other contributions the Shang made.