Photo taken on Aug. 6, 2022 shows a view of the Shimao ruins, an important prehistoric site in Shenmu City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Yang Yimiao)
SHENMU, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Shimao ruins are located in Shenmu, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
The ruins were a neolithic city built about 4,300 years ago and abandoned roughly 300 years later during the Xia Dynasty (2100-1600 BC), the first dynasty in China described in historical chronicles.
Over the past 10 years, excavators have uncovered a stone city with immense fortifications and sophisticated infrastructure, thousands of luxurious artifacts and a 230-foot-high stepped pyramid.
"The site's early date and peripheral location were surprising since Chinese civilization was thought to have first developed in the Central Plains around 500 years after Shimao's founding," read an article in the Archaeology journal.
An archeologist works at the Shimao ruins, an important prehistoric site in Shenmu City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
An archeologist shows a needle made of bone excavated from the Shimao ruins, an important prehistoric site in Shenmu City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
An archeologist cleans a recently-excavated stone statue at the Shimao ruins, an important prehistoric site in Shenmu City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
Aerial photo taken on Aug. 6, 2022 shows the Shimao ruins, an important prehistoric site in Shenmu City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
Archeologists measure a recently-excavated stone statue at the Shimao ruins, an important prehistoric site in Shenmu City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
Photo taken on Aug. 6, 2022 shows some excavated needles made of bone at the Shimao ruins, an important prehistoric site in Shenmu City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)■
