二里头Erlitou Xia Dynasty,China - City & Palace Reconstruction on 11500 BC
The
Xia dynasty (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC) is the first dynasty in traditional
Chinese history. It is described in ancient historical chronicles such as the
Bamboo Annals, the
Classic of History and the
Records of the Grand Historian. According to tradition, the dynasty was established by the legendary
Yu the Great after
Shun, the last of the
Five Emperors, gave his throne to him. The Xia was later succeeded by the
Shang dynasty(1600–1046 BC).
According to the traditional chronology based upon calculations by
Liu Xin, the Xia ruled between
2205 and 1766 BC; according to the chronology based upon the Bamboo Annals, it ruled between
1989 and 1558 BC. The Xia–
Shang–Zhou Chronology Projectconcluded that the Xia existed between 2070 and 1600 BC. The tradition of tracing
Chinese political history from heroic early emperors to the Xia to succeeding dynasties comes from the idea of the
Mandate of Heaven, in which only one legitimate dynasty can exist at any given time, and was promoted by the Confucian school in the
Eastern Zhou period, later becoming the basic position of imperial historiography and ideology. Although the Xia is an important element in early Chinese history, reliable information on the history of
China before
13th century BC can only come from archaeological evidence since
China's first established written system on a durable medium, the oracle bone script, did not exist until then. Thus, the concrete existence of the Xia is yet to be proven, despite efforts by Chinese archaeologists to link the Xia with
Bronze Age Erlitou archaeological sites.
Erlitou site
The
Erlitou culture may have evolved from the matrix of
Longshan culture.
Originally centered around
Henan and
Shanxi Province, the culture spread to
Shaanxi and
Hubei Province. After the rise of the
Erligang culture, the site at Erlitou diminished in size but remained inhabited.
Discovered in
1959 by
Xu Xusheng, Erlitou is the largest site associated with the culture, with palace buildings and bronze smelting workshops. Erlitou monopolized the production of ritual bronze vessels, including the earliest recovered dings. The city is on the Yi
River, a tributary of the
Luo River, which flows into the
Yellow River. The city was
2.4 km by 1.9 km; however, because of flood damage only 3 km2 (
1.2 sq mi) are left.
Phases
The site is divided into four phases, each of roughly a century.
During
Phase I, covering
100 ha (250 acres), Erlitou was a rapidly growing regional center, but not yet an urban civilization.
Urbanization began in
Phase II, expanding to
300 ha (740 acres). A palace area of 12 ha (30 acres) was demarcated by four roads. It contained the 150x50 m
Palace 3, composed of three courtyards along a 150-meter axis, and Palace 5. A bronze foundry was established to the south of the palatial complex.
The city reached its peak in
Phase III, and may have had a population of between 18,
000 and 30,000. The palatial complex was surrounded by a 2-meter thick rammed earth wall and Palaces 1,
7, 8, 9 were built. Palaces 3 and 5 were abandoned and replaced by
4200 m2
Palace 2 and Palace 4.
Phase IV was formerly considered a period of decline, but recent excavation has revealed continued building. Palace 6 was built as an extension of Palace 2, and Palaces 10 and 11 were built. Phase IV overlaps with the Lower phase of the Erligang culture (1600–1450 bc).
Around 1600 bc, a walled city was built at
Yanshi, about 6 km northeast of Erlitou.
Production of bronzes and other elite goods ceased at the end of Phase IV, at the same time as the
Erligang city of
Zhengzhou was established 85 km (53 mi) to the east. There is no evidence of destruction by fire or war, but during the Upper Erligang phase (1450–1300 bc) all the palaces were abandoned, and Erlitou was reduced to a village of 30 ha (74 acres).
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