Erlitou Site 二里头遗址

Situated in Eerlitou(二里头èrlĭtóu) Village in Yanshi City close to Luoyang City, Henan Province, Eerlitou Site is the relics of the capital of the Xia Dynasty (around 2070-1600BC), the first dynasty in China of ancient times. It consists of three natural villages in Yanshi City - Eerlitou, Gedangtou and Sijiaolou, and covers an area of 4 million square meters. Unearthed from the site are foundational address of large-scale palaces, large-sized workshops for bronze metallurgy, relics of pottery and bone making, as well as architectures in relation to religious worship and over 400 graves, which jointly demonstrate that Erlitou Site was the capital during the reign of four emperors in the Xia Dynasty: Taikang, Kongjia, Dihao and Xiajie, and the political, military, economic and cultural center of the Xia Dynasty.

Primitive bronze weapons and drinking vessels excavated from Erlitou Site indicate that bronze culture in China was extremely mature in the Xia Dynasty. Among the unearthed bronze wares, smaller articles such as knife, Jue (a kind of drinking vessel) and bell are the earliest bronze wares ever unearthed in China. Furthermore, a large quantity of stoneware, pottery and jade ware has been excavated from the culture layer of the later period. The jade ware includes Cong (octagonal jade badge), Gui (elongated pointed tablet of jade) and Zhang (jade tablet). The unearthed pottery is in large quantity, including pottery-molded tortoise, pig, sheep head as well as crockery engraved with dragon-snake pattern, tortoise pattern and human figure. In addition, there are numerous exquisite funeral objects excavated from the large-sized coffin chambers, including lacquerware, white pottery, impressed glazed pottery, craftwork embedded with turquoise, clam craftwork, and seashells. The archaeological discoveries unveil the mysteries of the remote Xia Dynasty, and reflect the cultural and artistic development of the Xia Dynasty as well as the intelligence and wisdom of the ancient Chinese People.