The discovery of the ruins of Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan
Historians and archaeologists have done a lot of research and exploration about the existence of the Xia Dynasty. According to some archaeological findings, such as the large palace foundation site of the Erlitou site, the large bronze smelting workshop, the pottery and bone-making sites, and the groups of bronze ceremonial and jade objects, it can be inferred that the Xia Dynasty existed.
The Erlitou Ruins Palace is recognized as a thatched house
The ruins of Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan are believed to be the site of the Summer Market. This is because the cultural remains excavated at the Erlitou site belong to the Xia Dynasty period, and the richest cultural remains on the site belong to the Erlitou culture, which is about 3800~3500 years ago, which is equivalent to the Xia and Shang dynasties in ancient documents. There are many legends about the capital city of the Xia Dynasty. According to historical records and archaeological findings, the capital of the early Xia Dynasty was in Yangcheng, and later moved to Yangzhai. The capitals of the middle and late Xia Dynasties included Xingzhen, Shangqiu, and Luncheng. Experts believe that Erlitou may be one of the capitals.
And the general imaginary restoration of the Xia Dynasty palace is only a grass house enclosed by four squares! At that time, the Minoan civilization of ancient Greece, the excavated stone palace ruins are already quite exquisite. We can't help but think that the Xia Dynasty of Dayu curing water should not only be a thatched hut as a palace building.
Discover the ruins of the ancient city of Shiji in Shaanxi
Shiyan Ancient City is the largest discovered site in China from the late Longshan period to the early Xia period, discovered in 1976 on the north side of the Balding River in Shijiabao Village, Gaojiabao Town, Shenmu City, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province. Through dating, it was determined that the site was built between 2200 and 1900 BC. According to this time, it is inferred that its rise and fall coincided with the period of the Xia Dynasty. According to this, the veil of antiquity has been lifted and it is becoming clearer.
The scale of the Shiji site is large
The scale of the Shiji site is very large. As a prehistoric city site in the Yellow River Basin with a total area of more than 4 million square meters from 4300 to 3800 years ago, it is also a key site of the "Chinese Civilization Source Exploration Project". Its enormous size, multiple structures, grand architecture and large number of high-class relics show that it has become an early city.
The ruins are composed of three stone city sites, namely the outer city, the inner city and the "Imperial City Platform", with a residual length of 2.84 kilometers and 2,000 meters respectively, and an area of about 4.25 million square meters and 2.35 million square meters respectively. In addition, a large number of precious artifacts such as bronze, pottery and jade have been found in the site, as well as many important relics such as tombs and sacrificial altars.
The stone carvings of the ancient city of Shiji are exquisite and intricate
A large number of exquisite stone carvings have been found in the ancient city of Shiyan, most of which are found in the southern parapet wall of the city wall, their shapes and sizes are different, and the content of the carvings can be roughly divided into five categories: "divine face", human face, "divine beast", animal and symbol. From the perspective of the stone carving theme, expression method and painting technique of the Shiji site, the stone carving is closely related to the stone carving tradition since the Hongshan culture. At the same time, the stone carving and ornamentation art of the Shiji site also has some similarities with the later Shang Dynasty bronze ornamentation art, indicating that it also had a great influence on the culture of the Central Plains. The stone carvings are dated no later than around 2000 BC, according to dating data. It can be seen that Shiyan Ancient City is one of the branches of a large cultural system including the Xia civilization.
The ground remains of the ancient city of Shiji are rich and tall
Height and width of the city wall: The height of the wall of Shiji Ancient City is between 20 meters and 80 meters, and the width is between 2 meters and 10 meters, which has very significant defensive characteristics. At the same time, the construction technology of the city wall is also very advanced, and different construction methods such as stacking method and segmented stacking method are adopted to make the construction of the city wall more solid.
Structure of the city wall: The wall structure of Shiji Ancient City is unique, and the outer city wall consists of the main city wall and the moats on the inner and outer sides, forming a "hui" shaped structure. At the same time, there are also military facilities such as horse faces, corner towers, and urn castles inside the city wall, making the defense of the city wall stronger.
Building materials: The building materials of Shiji Ancient City are mainly stone and lime, stone is one of the main building materials, not only convenient to take materials, but also high strength and good durability. At the same time, lime is also widely used to increase the adhesion and firmness of stones.
City Gates: Eight gates were found on the outer walls of Shiji Ancient City, of which two gates were found each in the south and east walls, and one gate was found each on the north and west walls. The architectural structure of these gates is very complex, the most representative of which is the west gate of the southern city wall, the door opening is about 3 meters wide and about 10 meters deep, there is a square door above the door opening, above the door forehead are two stone walls, the outer side of the stone wall is inscribed with a pattern.
The discovery of terracotta tiles in the ancient city of Shiji
In the excavation of the ancient city of Shiji, archaeologists found a large number of pottery, bone, stone, jade, copper and other relics, including this kind of terracotta tile. These ceramic tiles are slab-shaped, with twill lines and holes on one side, and experts analyzed that these ceramic tiles should be the decorative material of the ancient building surface - tiles. The discovery of terracotta tiles can prove the following two points: 1) Ancient people had mastered the technique of making terracotta tiles, and this technique was quite mature at that time. 2) Terracotta tiles played an important role in ancient architecture and were the main choice for roof coverings. It can be seen that the palace buildings at that time were definitely complex and exquisite buildings covered with tiles.
The veil of the architecture of the Xia Dynasty was gradually lifted through the stone ridges
Therefore, we can conclude that the architectural forms of the Xia Dynasty were more complex and spectacular than we previously thought. The architecture of the palace of the Xia Dynasty is most likely not a simple straw house, but a magnificent building. Dayu's success in controlling the flood and establishing a state system with great manpower and material resources showed that they were not living in bad conditions and could not live in humble thatched houses. With the deepening of archaeological excavations, people will gradually understand the truth of ancient history, and the understanding of ancient civilizations will be constantly updated with the unearthing of various physical objects.