Major advancements of early Chinese civilization research project announced
2018-05-29 Source：Global Times
China has found more archaeological evidence detailing the origins of its 5,000-year-old civilization, announced officials and experts at a State Council Information Office press conference held on Monday.
The Monday press conference unveiled the results of the State-led Comprehensive Investigation into the Origin and Early Development of Chinese Civilization Project, supported by national ministries and agencies including China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
Involving experts from some 70 scientific and archaeological institutions nationwide, the project, started in 2001, aims to explore the origins of early Chinese civilization based on major archaeological excavations using modern technologies, said SACH's deputy head Guan Qiang at the press conference.
"So far, about 900 research papers from the project have been published; nearly 400 of them have been published in overseas journals in foreign languages," Guan said.
Based on the latest archaeological finds made at major sites, the project's experts have arrived at the conclusion that early Chinese civilization started some 5,800 years ago in areas including the lower reach of Yellow River and the Yangtze River.
Discoveries at these sites, such as a number of sophisticatedly designed water projects, suggest China entered an "ancient State civilization period" some 5,000 years ago, said Wang Wei, one of the project's executive heads and a research fellow with CASS' Institute of Archaeology, at the press conference.
When asked whether the project uncovers any new archaeological evidence verifying the existence of the Xia Dynasty (C.2070BC - C.1600BC) - traditionally considered China's first dynasty - Wang told the Global Times that recent discoveries of more than 10 palaces and bronze sacrificial containers dating to the time the Xia was believed to have existed showcase the emergence of royal and political structures.
"Finding more evidence about the Xia Dynasty has been one of the project's major focuses and we expect to see more new evidence as we continue our research," Wang explained.
