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📷 Wikimedia Commons · CC
Where in the world
China
Erlitou
Ancient China · China
Field notes
- civilizations
- Ancient China
- types
- City · Palace
- occupied
- 1,900 BCE — 1,500 BCE
- country
- China
The site
Erlitou is a Chinese archaeological site in the Yiluo Basin near Luoyang, Henan, a centre of early Bronze Age China and the largest settlement of the Erlitou culture it names. Discovered in 1959, it has been variously identified as a Shang capital or the seat of the debated Xia dynasty. At its peak this palace city dominated the basin, possibly drawing waves of migrants to its northern riverbank.
