Shimao

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Shimao (Chinese: 石峁; pinyin: Shímǎo) is a Neolithic site in Shenmu County, Shaanxi, China. The site is located in the northern part of the Loess Plateau, on the southern edge of the Ordos Desert. It is dated to around 2000 BC, near the end of the Longshan period, and is the largest known walled site of that period in China, at 400 ha. It is one of the Yellow River civilizations. The fortifications of Shimao were originally believed to be a section of the Great Wall of China, but the discovery of jade pieces prompted an archaeological investigation, which revealed that the site was of Neolithic age. The discovery of Shimao has been challenging traditional views favouring the model of the preliminary development of complex societies in the Central Plains. Instead, large and sophisticated polities such as Shimao already existed just outside the surroundings, while maintaining independence and inter-connection. Rather than being a periphery or a transfer zone between the Central Plains and...

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