Ｈｕｇｅ Ａｎｃｉｅｎｔ Ｃｉｔｙ Ｕｎｅａｒｔｈｅｄ

It was during an archaeological project that lasted from June， 2006 to January， 2007 that the archaeologists from the Zhejiang Research Institute for Cultural Relics and Archaeology discovered a river. We were digging on the western side of the Putaofan Site in Pingyao Town， Hangzhou for the purpose of exploring what was beneath in an area where new houses would be built for villagers to be relocated for the protection of the Liangzhu Conservation Zone. The river runs from north to south and apparently dates back to the Liangzhu Culture Period. Inside the riverbed was a thick layer of deposits that can be traced to the later period of the Liangzhu Period. After conducting studies on some spots on the high ground on the eastern bank of the river， we discovered that the high ground was artificially made， that it measured nearly four meters in thickness， and that at the bottom of the high ground was a layer of rocks mined somewhere else and transported there for the earthen work. We made inquiries among local villagers and learned that they had run into similar stones when sinking wells. We reached a tentative conclusion that the high-ground might have been a river dike built during the Liangzhu Culture Period. Taking into consideration that the dike runs in parallel with the west of the Mojiaoshan Site at a distance of 200 meters， we surmised that the dike might have served as the western section of the wall around the Mojiaoshan Site.

With the approval by the State Administration of Cultural Relics and the fund from the provincial government， we began to dig in March， 2007. Starting from the first unearthing site， we moved north and south. By mid April， we had tentatively identified the boundary of the stone-bottomed structure. It reaches Fengshan in the south and Tiaoxi in the north. The giant work measures about 1，000 meters in length and 40-60 meters in width.

The next step was to determine whether the lengthy structure was a river dike or a city wall.By early November， 2007， we had discovered different sites with the stone layer at the bottom around the Mojiaoshan Site. We came to the conclusion that the earthen structure bottomed with a layer of stones was the city wall of the ancient Mojiaoshan Site of the Liangzhu Culture. The latest finds mean that the Liangzhu City stretched about 1，500 to 1，700 meters from east to west and measured 1，800 to 1，900 meters from south to north. The total area of the city was 2.9 million square meters. The newly discovered wall encloses a city that looks like a rectangular with round corners. The city wall mostly sat on a layer of stones， upon which was yellow earth piled up. The base of the wall measured 40 meters to 60 meters in width. Judging from the pottery shards piled in the outer layer of yellow earth， the city wall was in use in the later period of the Liangzhu Period. When it was first built is to be further investigated.

Liangzhu was an important culture dating back to 5，300 to 4，200 years ago in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the later period of the Neolithic Age. Since Chinese archaeologists first found the ancient culture in the 1920s， over 130 sites of the culture have been discovered in the area near Hangzhou， the capital city of Zhejiang Province. The newly discovered wall provides new clues to the spatial relations of the sites and the general layout of all these sites. The ancient Liangzhu City is known as the largest of all urban centers of the same period in China. Inside the city is the remnant foundation of the Mojiaoshan palace that alone measures 300，000 square meters in area and 10 meters in height as well as the Fanshan cemetery for nobles. Archaeologists have also found two altars and a cemetery outside the city boundaries. The new discovery confirms the central role Mojiaoshan played in the Liangzhu Culture. The city wall is concrete evidence that testifies to the dawning period of the Chinese civilization and helps us understand the significance of Liangzhu Culture. The latest discovery will also provide new material for successful application of the site for the UNESCO world heritage status.