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Chinese archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a city dating back an estimated 4,300 years in Dayi County in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The ancient city of Yandian, measuring 700 meters from north to south, 500 meters from east to west and covering an area of more than 300,000 square meters, is the seventh prehistoric city to be excavated in the Chengdu Plain area, according to Chen Jian, an official with the relics and archaeological team of Chengdu City, capital of Sichuan Province.
The city is situated next to a river at an elevation three meters above the river bank, indicating that ancient people considered the availability of water sources and flood prevention when deciding where to build cities, Chen said.
Archaeologists unearthed a number of pieces of inscribed pottery, polished stone axes, chisels and spears at the site. They also found chips of human skulls on the city wall but were unable to explain how they got there.
Chen Jian said that the discovery of the ancient Yandian city provides evidence that the region along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, with the Chengdu Plain at the core, played a very important role in the origin and development of Chinese civilization.
The discovery also proved that the Chengdu Plain is one of the centers of Chinese civilization.
(People's Daily January 24, 2003)
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