Scientists uncover 'satellite city' ruins in Shaanxi   

中国史前最大古城遗址发现“卫星城”

陕西省考古研究院22日通报，在距离我国史前最大古城神木石峁古城遗址南方约20公里处，考古人员意外发现一处相当于龙山文化中晚期的聚落“寨峁梁遗址”，其时代、建筑形制和器物类型等特征跟石峁古城具有明显关联，诚如聚邑成都般地构成了石峁古城的“卫星城”。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Chinese archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient satellite city 20 kilometers south of China's largest prehistorical ruins at Shimao, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

The city consists of 66 houses, ten round craters, three square craters, and has revealed another 200 small cultural relics, according to Sun Zhouyong, vice president of Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Institute.

Representing the middle and late period of Longshan Culture, which dates back to Neolithic times, the architectural form and date of the unearthed finds have significant links with the city of Shimao, which lay in Shenmu county.

Many small settlements surrounded Shimao, emerging on the Northern Shaanxi Plateau along the Yellow River, archaeologists have said.

The discovery offers further insights on the formation and development of early states and civilizations, and on the prehistory of Loess Plateau and its complex development.