Foundations of civilization

The latest study shows the site dates to between 4,700 and 5,200 years ago. Its core area, encircled by nine terraces, has an area of 30 hectares and belongs to the late period of the Yangshao Culture, dating back 4,700 to 7,000 years across the northern part of China.

Discovered in 1921 in Yangshao village, Henan province, Yangshao has been known as a site for Neolithic culture along the middle reaches of the Yellow River. That discovery represents the birth of modern archaeology in China.

According to Zhang Chi, a professor at the School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, the general scale of Nanzuo is unprecedented.

"Nanzuo site is twice the size of the extant Erlitou site (widely believed to be the capital of the late period of the Xia Dynasty, which ran from around the 21st century to the 16th century BC). Its area is similar to the size of that at Liangzhu (a Neolithic site in the Yangtze River Delta)," says Zhang.