‘An ancient Venice’ in China: archaeologists uncover earliest city where roadways were made of rivers
- The scientists believe people probably left their homes and immediately got on boats during their day
- The city dates back to the Warring States Period (475-221BC) and was ‘criss-crossed by rivers’
Venice, Italy holds a unique place in our world in part for the simple fact that the major roadways are made of water. Archaeologists may have discovered its ancient equivalent, this time in eastern China.
Archaeologist Li Guangri told state-run newswire Xinhua that it was likely “criss-crossed by rivers”.
The site sits about 10km from Taihu lake, one of the largest freshwater areas in China. According to mainland media reports, the discovery of the site was largely thanks to farmers in 2019, who were digging ditches and stumbled upon a significant amount of pottery during the job.
The Wuxi institute intervened and began to excavate the area. The scientists started to uncover a city wall, at which point they realised a fairly extensive site was in the area.
