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Erlitou culture二里头
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Absolute dates rest on radiocarbon ranges, not written records. Whether Erlitou was the capital of the Xia dynasty named in much later texts, or an unrelated, unnamed early state, is unresolved among archaeologists.
Before and after
In the Central Plains of China:Came after: Shang dynasty
Many Chinese archaeologists identify Erlitou with the Xia dynasty of later texts; no writing has been found there to prove it.
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A Bronze Age settlement in the Yellow River valley that grew into the largest city of its time in East Asia, with a walled palace precinct, planned roads and bronze foundries. Some scholars identify it with the legendary Xia dynasty; others see it as an early, unnamed state that fed directly into the Shang.
Also alive at the same time
Key events
Later texts credit the legendary Xia dynasty founders Yu and Qi with ruling from this region, though no writing found at Erlitou confirms itDisputed
No writing of any kind has been recovered from Erlitou; the Xia is known only from texts compiled many centuries later.
Sources
Erlitou grows into a planned city with a walled palace precinct at its centre
Sources
- Liu, Li & Xu, Hong (2007). "Rethinking Erlitou: legend, history and Chinese archaeology." Antiquity 81(314): 886–901.
- Thorp, Robert L. (2006). China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Builders lay out a grid of wide roads through the settlement, the earliest known planned road network in China
Sources
- Liu, Li & Xu, Hong (2007). "Rethinking Erlitou: legend, history and Chinese archaeology." Antiquity 81(314): 886–901.
- Thorp, Robert L. (2006). China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Foundries at Erlitou cast China's earliest known bronze ritual vessels using ceramic piece-moulds
Sources
Erlitou's palace centre is abandoned as political power shifts to new walled cities at Yanshi and Zhengzhou
Sources
- Liu, Li & Xu, Hong (2007). "Rethinking Erlitou: legend, history and Chinese archaeology." Antiquity 81(314): 886–901.
- Thorp, Robert L. (2006). China in the Early Bronze Age: Shang Civilization. University of Pennsylvania Press.