History helps us to know of the emergence of the different towns and the cities and their ancient functions. In Greek, for instance, the geography of the place helps contributes a lot in the shaping of the city. The geographical factors enabled the development of the Greeks cities. It is through history where we come to know of the emergence of the different towns in the different countries and the factors which influenced their growth (Leone, 2005). The violent and the slave trade led to the development of the different of the various towns and the cities.
The Neolithic era can be traced back in time to about 10,000 BC. The early evidence for cultivation of proto-Chinese millet can be radiocarbon-dated to around 7000 BC (Fuller, 2015). Some of the earliest evidences of rice cultivation were found along the Yangtze River (Zheng 2016). These evidences are carbon-dated to about 8,000 years back. Farming caused the rise of the Jiahu culture from around 7000 B.C. to 5800 B.C. 3,172 carvings on cliffs have been discovered at Damaidi in Ningxia. These carvings date back to 6000 BC5000 BC (Huang 2015). They feature 8,453 individual characters including the sun, moon, gods, stars, and scenes of grazing or hunting. These pictographs are said to be the same as the earliest characters that are confirmed to have to be written Chinese in the past. The Chinese proto-writing is said to have existed in Jiahu at around 7000 BC, the Damaidi around 6000 BC, Dadiwan from about 5800 BC to 5400 BC, and Banpo which dates back to the 5th millennium BC. A few scholars have suggested that the Jiahu symbols of the 7th millennium BC were Chineses earliest writing system. The Excavation of the Peiligang culture site, which is found in Xinzheng County, led to the discovery of a community that flourished during 5,500 BC to 4,900 BC. The evidence of the discovery is pottery, constructed buildings, agriculture, and burial of the dead. Agriculture led an increase in population; the Chinese were able to store and redistribute food, and the ability to support administrators and specialist craftsmen.
The Yellow River valley started to build itself as the center of theYangshao culture around 5000 BC to 3000 BC (this was the late Neolithic times), the first villages were established. The most archaeologically significant village among them was located at Banpo, Xi'an. Sometime later, the Longshan culture (which was also established on the Yellow River from around 3000 to 2000 BC) superseded the Yangshao culture.
The Liangzhu Archeological Site can be said to be a comprehensive archaeological site that represents civilization of the Chinese of the prehistoric rice agriculture (Zheng 2016).. This is estimated to have been sometime around 3300 B.C. to 2300 B.C. It is located in a plain with river networks at the foot of the Tianmu Mountain to the north of the hilly, coastal region of southeast China (Lui 2015). The land covers 908.89 hectares in area and is located in Yuhang District. It consists of an archeological site, an environment of wetland and unearthed cultural relics. The buffer zone covers an area of 10,256.45 hectares around the Liangzhu Site and includes five heritage sites. These are Tangshan, Xunshan, Yaojiadun, Yaoshan, and Huiguanshan which potentially have supporting value to the property.
The site shows an economic, cultural, religious and political center of the prehistoric culture of The Liangzhu of China (3300 B.C. to 2300 B.C.). The site presents the achievements that were made by the civilization of the late Neolithic settlement in the Yangtze River and the Yellow basins (Lui 2015). These achievements are shown by choice of a site that is embraced by a river and a mountain, the sites huge scale, use of stone to construct the city, the water systems that link the outer and the inner parts of the city. They are also shown by the foundations of huge structures that show the facilities of a city, and the spatial hierarchy evident between different settlements. Inside the city, there are high artificial earth mounds like the Mojito Hill, and Fanshan Site we can find jade wares belonging to the level of the culture of Liangzhu that were excavated from the tombs where the nobilities were buried.
The functions, types, rules and patterns of using the jade wares that were evacuated from the Yaoshan Alter-Tomb and Fanshan Sites show the origin of the important aspect of the country during the early time of civilization of the Chinese (Barnes 2015). The Jade wares have an incomparable significance throughout the globe in terms of the cultural technique and meaning; especially the King of Cong (this is a jade piece that is square in shape and has a hole in the middle) which has a typical pattern of animal and deity mask. This Jade piece shows the religious aspects of the agricultural civilization that existed in the Yangtze River and the Yellow River basins (Barnes 2015).
The site explains supreme achievements that were accomplished by the rice agriculture during the initial stage of Chinese civilization. It also exhibits the culture of the Liangzhu with relevant significance in the development if civilization of the Chinese over a period of around 5000 years. The site is also the evidence of the integral and diverse development of the Chinese civilization. It is also a conspicuous representation of large sites of settlement found in East Asia along the human civilization history and is preserved well with integrity and authenticity.
The Liangzhu Archeological Site meets three criteria for the inscription on the World Heritage List: Criterion (ii), (iv), and (vi). For Criterion (ii), the Liangzhu Archeological Site represents the Liangzhu Culture which was a long-lasting and far-reaching significance in the early and initial stages of Chinese civilization. It played a major role in the development of Chinese civilization over a period of about 5000 years. For Criterion (iv), the site shows an economic, political, religious and cultural center of Liangzhu Culture of China between 3300B.C. and 2300B.C. For Criterion (vi), the shapes, design, pattern and functions of the Jade Cong which was excavated from Liangzhu Archeological Site showed the origin of ritual culture all through Chinas civilization over 5000 years. The religious feature of agricultural civilization in the Yangtze River and the Yellow River basins is shown by the typical pattern of the deity and animal mask of Liangzhu jade ware.
The archeological excavation and excavation of the Liangzhu Archeological Site, that has taken over 70 years, has confirmed its authenticity. Most of the remains that are found both inside and outside the ancient city are mostly under earth mounds and paddy fields (Zheng 2016). Some parts of the south, north, and west walls of the city were excavated and then sheltered for protection. The remains in Fanshan, meirendi, and Yaoshan is backfilled after an archeological excavation.
References
Barnes, G. L. (2015). Archaeology of East Asia: the rise of civilization in China, Korea and Japan. Casemate Publishers
Fuller, D. Q., & Pang, R. (2015). The International Centre for Chinese Heritage and Archaeology (ICCHA): After a Decade of Success. Archaeology International, 18.Leone, M. P. (2005). The relationship between artifacts and the public in outdoor history
Liu, Y., Sun, Q., Thomas, I., Zhang, L., Finlayson, B., Zhang, W., ... & Chen, Z. (2015). Middle Holocene coastal environment and the rise of the Liangzhu City complex on the Yangtze delta, China. Quaternary Research, 84(3), 326-334.
museums. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 376(1), 301-313.
Nightingale, Carl H. Segregation: A global history of divided cities. University of Chicago Press,
Zhang, X., Huang, D., Deng, H., Snape, C., Meredith, W., Zhao, Y. ... & Sun, Y. (2015). Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the Bianjiashan site in Hangzhou: New evidence for the lower age limit of the Liangzhu Culture. Quaternary Geochronology, 30, 9-17.
Zheng, Y., Crawford, G. W., Jiang, L., & Chen, X. (2016). Rice Domestication Revealed by Reduced Shattering of Archaeological rice from the Lower Yangtze valley. Scientific Reports, 6.
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