Archaeologists dig up city

2007-12-04 13:08

Beijing - Chinese archaeologists have dug up what is believed to be a 4 300-year-old city that could be the capital of China's oldest dynasty, state press said on Tuesday.

The ancient city is believed to be part of the Liangzhu culture dated back to Neolithic times between 4 000 and 5 300 years ago, the China Daily said.

The ruins are located in eastern China's Zhejiang province, with archaeologists so far uncovering pottery shards and other relics within city walls that measure between four and six metres thick, it said.

The city covers about three square kilometres, larger than Beijing's Forbidden Palace, the home of the nation's Ming and Qing dynasties, it said.

Archaeologists are speculating that the city could be the lost capital of the Liangzhu kingdom but more archaeological evidence will be needed to prove such a theory, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

Without evidence of a capital city, historians have refused to consider the Liangzhu culture a kingdom which, if it existed, would outdate the Xia dynasty, currently considered the nation's oldest, it said.

The Xia dynasty is traditionally believed to have emerged about 4 000 years ago.

- AFP