[Traveling Along Yangtze River in Hubei] What Did 'National Central City' Look like 3500 Years ago?

The Panlong City Site, located in Wuhan, Hubei, is known as the source of bronze civilization in the Yangtze River basin. It is the central city in the southern territory of the Shang Dynasty and the root of Wuhan.

About 3,500 years ago, the residents of Panlong lived and prospered with the benefits of rivers and lakes. The Site was rediscovered due to the flood in modern times. In the summer of 1954, Wuhan suffered a catastrophic flood that had hardly been seen in a century. Workers who built embankments to combat the flood accidentally discovered tombs and bronzeware objects while they were taking soil. After investigation, the existence of the Panlong City Site and the ancient city was confirmed.

The remains of the palaces of the Panlong City Site [Photo via the Panlong City Site Museum]

The Panlong City Site is the archaeological site of the early Shang Dynasty with the highest level and richest relics known in the Yangtze River basin. The settlement is centered around the city site, and different types of sites can be found surrounding it.

The ancient city site is located in the southeast of the Site. It is about 289 meters long from north to south and 284 meters long from east to west. The city walls were built based on the local terrain, with their widths ranging from 27 to 30 meters. Two systems, "Circle Moat" and "North City Moat", which have been found circling the ancient city and standing far from the city respectively,  were possibly used for the purposes of defense and land and water transportation; Three large foundations of buildings were found in the northeast of the ancient city, considered as the palaces constructed at that time.

The relics unearthed at the Panlong City Site [Photo via the Panlong City Site Museum]

The sites outside the city and the city site form an integrated whole. In the core area of the Site, high-grade tombs were found in the east of the ancient city; large building foundations, many small building foundations and cemeteries with the features of Shang culture were found in the north; several residential sites, kiln sites, ash pits and tombs were found gathering in the south area; and the site of copper casting workshop was found in the west.