A natural bond

In that sense, the Liangzhu civilization is not unlike ancient Greece, which comprised a collection of culturally and linguistically related city-states and territories. While the lands of ancient Greece were officially unified between 336 BC and 323 BC under the rule of Alexander the Great, in 221 BC, the land of Liangzhu became part of the unified empire of Qin (221-206 BC).

Both developed a love-hate relationship with water, they fought it, tamed it, celebrated it, romanced it, and, in some ways, worshiped it. For their part, the ancient Greeks — and later the Romans who had come under their influence — left behind extensive aqueducts and extravagant baths built with stone. Vitruvius, the celebrated Roman architect and engineer from the 1st century BC, stated that marshy areas must be avoided when the site of a city is chosen.

Vitruvius was certainly right in noting the potential harm of infectious, waterborne diseases, but he might feel compelled to at least rethink his conclusion if he'd known the story of Liangzhu, told by ingeniously constructed dams and embankments, and by wooden boats, oars and piers preserved in their watery graves.

"The Liangzhu society was an extremely mild one. Little sign of violence has been discovered at the Liangzhu sites, except for the few that had existed on its borders, where it may have come to clash with other societies or cultures," says Wang.

"It's fair to say that water had brought exchange, which brought cohesion, the ultimate platform on which the Liangzhu civilization was built."