Erligang culture

The Erligang culture (er4.li3.gang3) is a Bronze Age urban civilization and archaeological culture in China that existed from approximately 1600 to 1400 BC. The primary site, Zhengzhou Shang City, was discovered at Erligang, within the modern city of Zhengzhou, Henan, in 1951. The culture was centered in the Yellow River valley. In its early years, it expanded rapidly, reaching the Yangtze River. The culture then gradually shrank from its early peak. Zhengzhou Shang City Later investigations showed that the Erligang site was part of an ancient city surrounded by a roughly rectangular wall with a perimeter of about . The walls were of rammed earth construction, a technique dating back to Chinese Neolithic sites of the Longshan culture (3000-1900 BC). It has been estimated that the walls would have been wide at the base, rising to a height of . Large workshops were located outside the city walls, including a bone workshop, a pottery workshop and two bronze vessel workshops. The modern city sits on the remains of the Erligang city, rendering archaeological excavations impossible. Therefore, most of the information about the culture comes from studying other Erligang sites. The large site at Panlongcheng, on the Yangtze River in Hubei, is currently the largest excavated site of Erligang culture. It was discovered in 1954, and excavated in 1974 and 1976. Since Zhengzhou lacked access to local bronze metals, sites like Panlongcheng were probably used to secure distant metal resources. A large number of bronze wares were found in Panlong City. Through carbon dating of wood samples unearthed from Tonglu Mountain in Dazhi, Hubei and Tongling Mining and Metallurgical Site in Ruichang, Jiangxi, comparisons were made between the bronze wares unearthed in Panlongcheng City and Tonglu Mountain, It was found that the mineral elements of Panlongcheng bronzes are the same as those of Tonglushan, which indicates that the copper of Panlongcheng originated from Tonglushan.

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Related concepts (4)

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.

Shang dynasty

The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals and Records of the Grand Historian.

Wuhan

Wuhan (wuːˈhaen, USalsowuːˈhɑːn,_'wu:-; ; AUDzh-Wuhan.oggwu 3.han4) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city and one of the nine National Central Cities of China. The name "Wuhan" came from the city's historical origin from the conglomeration of Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, which are collectively known as the "Three Towns of Wuhan" ().