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  • Category: Culture

Archaeological discoveries have shown that more than 3,000 years ago, the ancient city of Sanxingdui, located in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, China, already had a clear urban plan.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the reporter learned from the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology on Tuesday (July 23, 2024) that archaeologists came to the above conclusion after analyzing the distribution and orientation of newly discovered building foundations, handicraft workshops, water gates, city gates, etc.

The Sanxingdui site in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, represents the appearance and development level of the ancient Shu civilization thousands of years ago. It is the capital site with the richest cultural connotation and the largest area in the Yangtze River Basin at the same time. The core area of ​​the Sanxingdui site is an ancient city surrounded by tall city walls. Although some sections of the city wall have been destroyed in history, archaeologists have restored the basic pattern of the city site based on the exploration of the existing city wall: the Sanxingdui ancient city site covers an area of ​​about 3.6 square kilometers and is northwest-southeast.

This orientation is basically consistent with the previously discovered Qingguanshan Palace, as well as the newly discovered high-level building foundations and jade and stone workshops at the Sanxingdui site from 2022 to 2024. Xu Danyang, deputy director of the Sanxingdui Site Work Station of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, introduced that the placement of the cultural relics in the pit is basically consistent with the orientation of the entire Sanxingdui ancient city.

Xu Danyang said that the main axis of the Sanxingdui ancient city is northwest-southeast, which is the result of the ancient Shu people adapting to the local geographical environment and referring to the natural mountain and river trends at that time. "Such a layout is convenient for water supply for production and life on the one hand, and for external communication by water on the other hand, reflecting advanced urban construction ideas."