Shijiahe Ancient City is located in shihe town, Tianmen City. The age is 4000 ~ 5000 years ago. Shijiahe site was discovered in 1957, with a total area of about 8 square kilometers. It consists of dozens of sites such as Sanfangwan and Tan Jialing. The plane of the city site is slightly rectangular, with a length of 1000 meters from north to south and a width of more than 900 meters from east to west. The wall is 3-8m high and 30-50m wide at the bottom. There is a moat outside the city, with a width of 60 ~ 100 m and a depth of 4 ~ 6 m. The central part of the city is the site of Tan Jialing, which is a residential area. A lot of tower-shaped pottery was found in Dengjiawan in the northwest, which is estimated to be religious supplies. In several places, large pottery pots are arranged in an arc shape, some of which are engraved with carving symbols, which are estimated to be related to religious activities, including pottery sculptures such as pigs, dogs, cows, sheep, chickens, monkeys, elephants, long-tailed birds, turtles and fish, and hundreds of people hold fish statues. Obviously, this is a center of religious activities. A large number of red pottery cups, amounting to hundreds of thousands, were found in the site of Sanfangwan in the southwest. The cultural remains of this site group started from the stage equivalent to Daxi culture, and passed through Qujialing culture to Shijiahe culture, forming a basically continuous development sequence. At the center of the site group is an ancient city composed of city walls, moats and peripheral terraces. The urban land area is 6.5438+200,000 square meters. Among the unearthed artifacts, a large number of pottery, pottery crafts and small jade articles are the most distinctive. In addition, copper blocks have been found in the site, which proves that Shijiahe culture has entered the bronze age. There are many sites scattered around the Shijiahe site in Tianmen city, which constitute the Shijiahe settlement group. Shijiahe site group is the naming place of Shijiahe culture, and its discovery has found an important breakthrough for exploring the origin of civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit. No.2 prehistoric ancient city in Hubei-Tianmen Longzui ancient city
The ancient city of Longzui is located in Wuliu Village, shihe town, Tianmen City. Excavated in 2006. The city site is irregular and round, covering an area of about 80,000 square meters. The perimeter of the city wall is about 1 000m, and the urban area is 60,000m2. The east, west and south of the city are surrounded by lakes, and the north is artificial ditches. The city wall is built according to the terrain, with the highest point of 2m and the lowest point of1m.. Fired red clay is widely used in urban buildings and appliances, and pottery and plastic works of art, grinding stone tools, pottery, spinning wheels, toy balls that can make sound when shaking and a small amount of jade articles have been unearthed. In addition, graves were found. This ancient city site is the earliest Neolithic site discovered in Hubei Province so far, which is equivalent to the middle and late Daxi culture (5500-5000 years ago). No.3 Prehistoric Ancient City in Hubei Province-Hegu Ancient City Site in Shayang County
Hecheng Ancient City is located in Hecheng Village, Hougang Town, Shayang County. Found in 1983, excavated in 2007. Covering an area of 6,543,800 square meters, it is a large city site, and the moat, moat and city wall are well preserved. The site of Shijiahe City, second only to Tianmen City, belongs to Shijiahe culture, dating back more than 4,300 years.
The fourth prehistoric ancient city in Hubei-Zoumaling Ancient City in Shishou
The ancient city of Zoumaling is located in Zoumaling Village, Jiaoshanhe Town, Shishou City. The plane of the city site is irregular oval, with the longest from east to west of 370 meters and the widest from north to south of 300 meters. The perimeter of the city wall is about1.200m, with an area of 78,000m2. The highest point of the existing city wall is about 5 meters, the width of the wall base is 25-37 meters, and the top width is 10-20 meters. There are five gaps in the city wall, and some gaps have earth platforms at the top of the city wall on both sides. The city walls are tamped with yellow, brown and gray clay from top to bottom. The city gates were built in the middle of the east wall and at the north and south ends of the west wall. There are large houses with an area of 65,438+000 square meters, medium-sized houses with multiple partitions with an area of 30-50 square meters, and small houses with an area of about 8 square meters found in cities. Most of the earthen walls are pottery fragments in the early Qujialing culture, which overlap with ash pits and tombs in the late Qujialing culture, so it is inferred that the city was built in the early Qujialing culture. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit. The Fifth Prehistoric Ancient City in Hubei Province-Ji Ming Ancient City of Public Security
Ji Ming Ancient City is located in Qinghe Village, Shizikou Town, Gongan County. 1996 excavation. The city site is circular in plane, 400 meters wide from east to west and 500 meters long from north to south, covering an area of about 200,000 square meters. There are four gates in the city, and there is a moat outside, but the middle part of the east wall has disappeared somehow, and the plane of the wall is approximately C-shaped. In the center of the city, there is a platform with an area of about 40,000 square meters, which is 1 meter higher than the surrounding area. There is a lot of braised soil on the platform, which is the main residential area of the site. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit. The sixth prehistoric ancient city in Hubei-Jingzhou Yinxiang Ancient City
Yinxiang Ancient City is located about 4 kilometers north of Mashan Town, Jingzhou City. The plane of the city site is a rounded rectangle, and a longitudinal gully in the middle divides the city site into two parts. The existing city wall is about 9000 meters long, 580 meters long from east to west and 350 meters wide from north to south, covering an area of about 200,000 square meters. The walls on the east, south and west are basically well preserved. The existing city wall is generally 10 ~ 25m in width and 8m in height, and there is a city wall outside the city wall. Found 13 houses, 4 pottery kilns, 8 urn coffins, ash pits, paddy fields and other relics, and found a large number of animal and plant remains and cultural relics in Cheng Hao. The age is equivalent to the early Qujialing culture. Among them, the unearthed lacquer wood handle is the only well-preserved Neolithic lacquer wood in China, and its color is as bright as new, which has advanced the lacquer making technology in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River for more than 2000 years. In addition, a large partitioned house was found, which provided important physical data for studying the living form and architectural structure in the city at that time. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit. The Seventh Prehistoric Ancient City in Hubei —— Majiahuan Ancient City in Shayang
Majiahuan Ancient City is located in Xianling Village, Wuli Town, Shayang County. The city wall is well preserved and the plane is trapezoidal. There are 640 east-west walls, 440 south walls and 250 north walls, with a total area of about 24 square meters. The west wall is adjacent to Donggang River, and the city site is surrounded by Donggang River as a moat. There is a gap between the north and south city walls, but it is not certain that it was the city gate at that time. There is an ancient river from the middle section of the western wall to the southeast corner of the city. There is a rammed earth platform in the northeast of the city, which is about 250m long from north to south and150m wide from east to west. This is an important building in this city. A large number of early pottery fragments from Qujialing and Shijiahe were collected on the rammed earth platform, so the age of the city site has never exceeded this range. There are dense small and medium-sized settlements around Majiahuan city site, which constitutes Majiahuan settlement group. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit. No.8 prehistoric ancient city in Hubei-Yingcheng Menmenwan ancient city
The ancient city of Mentouwan is located in Xingguang Village, about 3 kilometers southwest of Yingcheng. It is a Neolithic site with the city site as the center and several semi-subordinate settlements outside the city. There is a slightly square city site in the middle of the site, which is 550 meters long from north to south and 400 meters wide from east to west, covering an area of about 200,000 square meters. The western wall is the best preserved, 3-4 meters above the ground so far. There are two plateaus in the northeast and northwest of the city, and there are trenches outside the city wall. A large building with an area of 1 15.5 square meters was found at the city site. The house is divided into four rooms, with a corridor outside and well-preserved doors and windows. There is a big yard of 450 square meters around the house. The wall, city hall and large buildings of Menmenwan site are well preserved, which is rare in Neolithic archaeological discoveries so far. It is a national key cultural relics protection unit. No.9 prehistoric ancient city in Hubei-Taojiahu ancient city in Yingcheng
Taojiahu Ancient City is located in the middle reaches of Si Long, about 18km west of Yingcheng. The city is oval, with a maximum distance of about 5000 meters from north to south and a width of 850 meters from east to west, with a total area of about 670,000 square meters. The city wall is made of earth, and the remaining city wall is1~ 4m above the ground. There is a moat around the city wall and a large platform in the south of the city. A large number of Neolithic cultural relics were found on this land, which was identified as Qujialing cultural period. Hubei prehistoric ancient city 10-Tianmen Cheng Xiao ancient city Cheng Xiao ancient city is located in Chengxiao Village, Zaoshi Town, Tianmen City, 36.4 kilometers away from Tianmen City and 7.5 kilometers away from Zaoshi Town. The site of Cheng Xiao City is located in the hilly area where the mountain area transits to the plain. The city site is located at the southern end of Xiongjialinggang, with an altitude of 26-29.5 meters. Its east, south and west are relatively low, with an altitude of 20-22 meters. The hill is about 1 from north to south and about 0.5 km from east to west. Yaojiahe flows into Xinzhaoshi River from west to east from the south side of the city site. The site of Cheng Xiaocheng was discovered in the cultural relics investigation in 1983, and was excavated in 2006 due to the construction of Wujing Expressway. It is a cultural relic protection unit in Tianmen City. The ruins of the ancient city of Cheng Xiao face south. The city site is 250 ~ 360m long from east to west, 0/56 ~ 305 m wide from north to south, covering an area of 98,000 square meters and 63,000 square meters. According to exploration, except for the moat in the north of the city, the other three sides of the city site are lakes, which fully proves that the city site was once surrounded by three lakes and one moat. Laughing wall can be roughly divided into two periods. The age of the first wall should belong to the late Qujialing culture. The bottom of the city wall is about 23 meters wide and the residual height is 0.60 ~ 1.6 meters. There are many unearthed relics, mainly muddy gray pottery, followed by polished black pottery, and a small amount of painted pottery, including cans, tubes, bowls and other fragments. The second stage of the city wall can be traced back to the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the mid-Spring and Autumn Period. The city wall was built on the first-phase city wall, with a bottom width of about 14.5m and a residual height of 0.20 ~1.6m. The unearthed pottery pieces are mainly argillaceous gray pottery, with shapes such as ding, wei, jar and bean. The late city wall was raised on the basis of the early city wall. There are ash pits and tombs in Shijiahe cultural relics. Pottery is mainly argillaceous gray pottery and mixed sand gray black pottery, with a single shape, mostly pots and cups. summary
To sum up, it shows that among the prehistoric ancient cities of 10, Zoumaling and Ji Ming are located in the south of the Yangtze River, while Shijiahe, Longzui, Cheng Xiao, Majiahuan, Hecheng, Yinxiangcheng, Menmen Bay and Taojiahu are located in the Hanshui River Basin and Zhang Ju River Basin in the north of the Yangtze River. As far as the overall geographical environment is concerned, all the city sites are selected in the plain area where the piedmont hills and lakes meet, and the city site selection makes full use of the natural terrain conditions and is built according to the terrain. Among 10 ancient cities, Shijiahe ancient city has the largest area, with a site area of 6.5438+0.2 million square meters, followed by Hecheng, Taojiahu, Majiahuan, Impression City, Menmen Bay, Cheng Xiao, Ji Ming, Zoumaling and Longzui, with the smallest city area of only over 60,000 square meters, but Longzui ancient city has the longest history. The shape of the city wall is irregular, such as round, rounded square and oval. The prehistoric ancient cities in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River were built before the late Qujialing culture except the ancient city of Longzui, which was built in the middle and late Daxi culture. Among them, the Longzui city wall is the earliest, about 5500-5000 years ago. The city walls of Shijiahe, Zoumaling and Yinxiangcheng were all found to have the stratigraphic relationship of tombs or ash pits superimposed and fractured in the late Qujialing culture, indicating that the city walls were built no later than Qujialing. Judging from the cultural accumulation in the city, these prehistoric ancient cities in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River have been used until the early Shijiahe culture. Relevant information shows that the early urban sites in China first appeared about 6,000 years ago, and declined one after another about 4,000 years ago. Its most vigorous development period was about 4800 -4300 years ago. There are 4,000-year-old prehistoric ancient city sites 10 in Hubei, including Shijiahe ancient city, Longzui ancient city, Ji Ming ancient city in Gongan county, Taojiahu ancient city in Yingcheng city, Majiayuan ancient city, etc. 10, which proves that the prototype of Hubei city appeared in Neolithic age and has a highly developed prehistoric civilization. There is almost no relationship except the relationship that appears in the same time and space.