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The Liangzhu excavation site, on the Yangtze River Delta, southwest of Shanghai in China, is home to the remains of a 5,300-year-old civilisation. Liangzhu City was once an advanced culture, with hydraulic infrastructure including dams, reservoirs and canals. Despite not having metals, the Neolithic people of Liangzhu operated a complex water system that allowed agriculture to flourish. There is still much to learn about Liangzhu, which was only declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019. It was inhabited for 1,000 years, but it’s still not entirely clear what caused the city’s downfall, which was thought to be abrupt... Moisture...

BEIJING — Archaeologists say they have discovered some of the world’s oldest known primitive writing, dating back about 5,000 years, in eastern China, and some of the markings etched on broken axes resemble a modern Chinese character. The inscriptions on artifacts found at a relic site south of Shanghai are about 1,400 years older than the oldest written Chinese language. Chinese scholars are divided over whether the markings are words or something simpler, but they say the finding will shed light on the origins of Chinese language and culture. The oldest writing in the world is believed to be from...

The ancient city of Liangzhu is rectangular in shape with rounded corners, and faces north. The city extends 1,500-1,700 meters from east to west, and 1,800-1,900 meters north to south. The 6 kilometers of wall surround an area of 2.9 million square meters: the size of the Summer Palace. The adobe walls, built on stone foundations, are the widest existing walls found thus far... The Liangzhu culture is a prehistoric culture, dating back to BC 5,000- BC 4,000. The sphere of its influence reached as far as Shanxi to the north, and to Guangdong in the South. It is among...