China’s Bronze Age Shang dynasty gives up more of its secrets from 3,600 years ago
- Four Shang sites have recently been unearthed in Beijing and nearby provinces
- Findings offer valuable picture of city building, social systems, burial etiquette and handicraft use, national cultural heritage body says
The sites belonging to the ancient Shang dynasty (1600BC-1046 BC) were recently discovered in the capital Beijing, its adjacent Hebei province, as well as the northwestern Shaanxi and central Henan provinces, according to China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration.
Among the finds were nine tombs of high-ranking nobility from the late Shang dynasty, the largest burial site of its kind ever unearthed in northern Shaanxi.
These were found in the Zhaigou site situated on 11 hills featuring large rammed earth buildings, cemeteries and bronze-casting shops.
More than 200 burial objects were recovered from the tombs, including a set of accessories placed on chariots and horses, a swallow-shaped ornament inlaid with turquoise, a bone tool with animal patterns also inlaid with turquoise, cloud-shaped gold earrings, copper arrowheads, copper axes, sea shells, jade and crocodile bone.
Researchers said the tombs offered insights into the political structure of the Shang dynasty and interactions between the Shang and northern cultures.
