W northern ones Chinain the city Chifengarchaeologists found an ancient burial site that contained over 100 jade relicsincluding three dragon figures. The burial site consisted of a circular tomb and a sacrificial altar kultury Hongshanwho lived in these areas about 3 thousand years BC These finds are particularly valuable because they can help answer the question how the first civilizations were formed in what is now China.
The discovered relics show similarity to artifacts discovered in other Chinese provincessuggesting that the Hongshan culture drew inspiration from at least three other communities up to more than 100 miles away. One of the evidence for this is, among others, a 15 cm long jade dragon that was found during excavations. It was only slightly larger than a similar artifact discovered in Liaoning Province 150 km away.
Excavations also revealed stone structures and semi-subterranean dwellings that probably served as tombs for high-ranking members of the community. The tomb layouts resemble those found in Niuheliang – a remote village about 140 km from Chifeng.
Objects very similar to those found in Chifeng were also found in the area formerly occupied by Lingjiatan culture – in the current Anhui province. According to archaeologists, these findings clearly suggest contacts between these civilizations.
Dang Yu, a researcher at the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology in Inner Mongolia, mentions that the consistency in the style of jade artifacts over such a large area it also proves the existence of a common belief system. This sheds entirely new light on the spread of ideas and beliefs in the early stages of Chinese civilization.
Sites associated with the Hongshan culture, dating to the period between 4.7 thousand a 2.9 thousand years BCdiscovered across a wide area of China – from Inner Mongolia to Liaoning Province. Archaeologists continue to study the relics and structures discovered at Chifeng to better understand when the burial site was discovered and to find out what other interesting information can be obtained from excavations in the area once occupied by the Hongshan culture.
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Source: geekweek.interia.pl
