Massive Pyramid, Lost City and Ancient Human Sacrifices Unearthed in China
Posted on 08/24/2018 2:40:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Once mistaken for the Great Wall of China, archeologists have unearthed an ancient city complete with a 70-meter (230-foot) pyramid, decapitated heads, and a bounty of precious gems. The 4,300-year-old stone city is now named Shimao, although its ancient name is unknown. At 400 hectares... Shimao is found in a region often been described in Chinese histories as a home to "barbarians". While little is known about the ancient city, its grandeur and intricacy suggest it was once politically and economically important in the region. The buildings were quarried from nearby sandstone whose extraction, transportation, and use were labor-intensive and sophisticated. Take the pyramid palace built in the center of the town, for starters. Built around 2300 BC, the 11-story structure was reinforced with stone buttresses and defensive walls. Found in the walls of the pyramid and in nearly every stone structure are jade insets, tools, and other decorations... Six pits containing decapitated human heads indicates that human sacrifice occurred here on a "massive scale". Morphological analyses of the remains suggest the victims could have been captives from nearby warring groups - a claim reinforced by the fortified walls strategically placed around the city to keep people out. "The jade objects and human sacrifice may have imbued the very walls of Shimao with ritual and religious potency, amplifying its significance as a monumental center, enhancing the protective efficacy of the walls and making this a place of power in every sense," wrote the authors in their study published in Antiquity. The team speculates that Shimao flourished over such a large region for around 500 years and could have encompassed more than 4,000 settlements.
(Excerpt) Read more at iflscience.com ...
Someone’s posted the coordinates, [snip] in Shenmu County, Shaanxi, China. The site in located in the northern part of the Loess Plateau, on the southern edge of the Ordos Desert. [/snip]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimao
glad you’ve enjoyed it!
“We need more Calgon.”
“Ancient Chinese secret, eh?”
“I need a new wife, one who won’t undermine my business.”
I think there’s a secret volcano lair nearby.
“My husband: some hot-shot! Here’s his ancient Chinese secret!”
Musta seen that commercial a million times as a little kid!
Yeah, that’s something ya wouldn’t see today. :^) Nor would some of the lines in the classic “Chinatown” have made it into the final edit.
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