Erlitou culture

The Erlitou culture (Chinese 二里頭,Hanyu Pinyin Èrlǐtóu) was an early Bronze Age urban society and archaeological culture that existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. (A 2007 study of radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750 to 1530 BC.) The culture was named after the site discovered at Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan. It was widely spread throughout Henan and Shanxi and later appeared in Shaanxi and Hubei. Most archaeologists consider Erlitou the first state-level society in China. Chinese archaeologists generally identify the Erlitou culture as the site of the Xia dynasty, but there is no firm evidence, such as writing, to substantiate such a linkage, as the earliest evidence of Chinese writing dates to the late Shang dynasty. The Erlitou culture may have evolved from the matrix of Longshan culture. Originally centered around Henan and Shanxi province, the culture spread to Shaanxi and Hubei provinces. After the rise of the Erligang culture, the site at Erlitou diminished in size but remained inhabited. Discovered in 1959 by Xu Xusheng, Erlitou is the largest site associated with the culture, with palace buildings and bronze smelting workshops. Erlitou monopolized the production of ritual bronze vessels, including the earliest recovered dings. The city is on the Yi River, a tributary of the Luo River, which flows into the Yellow River. The city was ; however, because of flood damage only are left. The Erlitou Relic Museum, located in Luoyang, Henan province, which has more than 2,000 items excavated from the Erlitou site in its collection, opened in October 2019. The site's growth is divided into four phases. During Phase I, covering , Erlitou was a rapidly growing regional center with an estimated population of several thousand people, but not yet an urban civilization. Urbanization began in Phase II, expanding to with a population of around 11,000. A palace area of was demarcated by four roads. It contained the Palace 3, composed of three courtyards along a 150-metre axis, and Palace 5.