Massive Ancient City Containing Huge Pyramid Unearthed in China

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient lost city in China where human sacrifice was practised. The Neolithic site known as Shimao, in present-day Shaanxi province, was once thought to be an unexcavated part of the Great Wall of China.

The pyramid was decorated with eye symbols and “anthropomorphic,” or part-human, part-animal faces.

Those figures “may have endowed the stepped pyramid with special religious power and further strengthened the general visual impression on its large audience,” the archaeologists wrote in the article. 

For five centuries, a city flourished around the pyramid. At one time, the city encompassed an area of 988 acres (400 hectares), making it one of the largest in the world, the archaeologists wrote. Today, the ruins of the city are called “Shimao,” but its name in ancient times is unknown.

The pyramid contains 11 steps, each of which was lined with stone. On the topmost step, there “were extensive palaces built of rammed earth, with wooden pillars and roofing tiles, a gigantic water reservoir, and domestic remains related to daily life,” the researchers wrote.

The city’s rulers lived in these palaces, and art and craft production were carried out nearby. “Evidence so far suggests that the stepped pyramid complex functioned not only as a residential space for ruling Shimao elites but also as a space for artisanal or industrial craft production,” the archaeologists wrote.

A series of stone walls with ramparts and gates was built around the pyramid and the city. “At the entrance to the stepped pyramid were sophisticated bulwarks [defensive walls] whose design suggests that they were intended to provide both defense and highly restricted access,” the archaeologists wrote.

The remains of numerous human sacrifices have been discovered at Shimao. “In the outer gateway of the eastern gate on the outer rampart alone, six pits containing decapitated human heads have been found,” the archaeologists wrote.

Some of the victims may be from another archaeological site called Zhukaigou, which is located to the north of Shimao, and the people of Shimao may have conquered the neighbouring site.

“Morphological analysis of the human remains suggests that the victims may have been related to the residents of Zhukaigou, which could further suggest that they were taken to Shimao as captives during the expansion of the Shimao polity,” the study said.

Additionally, jade artefacts were inserted into spaces between the blocks in all of Shimao’s structures. “The jade objects and human sacrifice may have imbued the very walls of Shimao with ritual and religious potency,” the archaeologists wrote.

While archaeologists have known about Shimao for many years, it was once thought to be part of the Great Wall of China, a section of which is located nearby.

It wasn’t until excavations were carried out in recent years that archaeologists realized that Shimao is far older than the Great Wall, which was built between 2,700 and 400 years ago.

The team of archaeologists that wrote the article includes Li Jaang, a professor at the School of History at Zhengzhou University; Zhouyong Sun and Jing Shao, who are both archaeologists at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology; and Min Li, an anthropology professor at UCLA.

Possible 2,700-Year-Old Face Cream Found in China

According to a Nature report, a team of researchers led by Bin Han of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences identified a bronze vessel containing remnants of a 2,700-year-old cosmetic among the artifacts recovered from a nobleman’s tomb at the Liujiawa site in northern China.

The ornate bronze jar was still sealed when researchers unearthed it at the Liujiawa archaeological site in northern China. That allowed Yimin Yang at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and his colleagues to analyze the composition of the yellowish lumps inside the pot.

The lumps consisted of beef fat mixed with minerals that absorb sweat and skin oil. Those minerals came from ‘cave moon milk’, a powdered form of white stalactites found in limestone caves.

Caves were important to the Taoist philosophy prevalent during the nobleman’s day, and the cream would have had symbolic power as well as the ability to moisturize and whiten the face.

The presence of similar pots in many royal and noble graves suggests that a cosmetics industry serving elite customers had appeared in China by roughly 700 BC.

Hidden for 1,000 years-“Underground Great Wall” of China

The Song Dynasty (960AD-1127AD) battled for 200 years with the Liao and Jin Dynasties, which at the time were ruled by minorities of China’s Northern Territories, the Khitans, and Jurchens respectively.

The battleground was an endless flat ground, with no mountains or rivers that could be used to help defend against attack, but their secret was found more than half a century ago, when locals in the Yongqing village, Hebei, experienced a great flood.

Villagers were running for their lives when the course of the flood suddenly diverted and disaster was averted – exposing a series of underground passages spanning more than 300 square kilometers (115 square miles).

Experts in China discovered the Yongqing ancient war passages were widespread and formed part of a large-scale construction used to house troops during times of war.

The structure of the caves was complicated and possessed advanced military facilities such as camouflaged exits, covers, and locking gates. More recently though, the existence of a modern “underground Great Wall” tunnel network was unveiled in the mountainous regions of Hebei.

The labyrinthine tunnel system was built by the engineering unit of the Second Artillery in 1985 for concealing, mobilising and deploying China’s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Who Built the Ancient War Passages and When?

Experts discovered that the Yongqing ancient war passages were widespread. They were in fact a large-scale construction used to house troops during times of war.

The structures of the caves were complicated and complete, possessing military facilities such as camouflaged exits, covers, and locking gates. Facilities for housing people were also found, such as ventilation holes, lampstands, and heatable brick beds.

The “blue bricks” used in the construction of the passageways were 30×16×8 cubic centimeters in size. This kind of brick, created using fine soil baked at high temperatures, was very solid and robust; the use of such facilities suggests a well thought out and sophisticated underground network had been established at some point in time.

Further investigation revealed that the blue bricks found in Yongqing County were the same as the bricks found in underground passages in Qigang, Xiong County from the Song Dynasty.

The creation and maintenance of such a massive underground network required a great number of these bricks. It is believed that these ancient war passages were constructed as part of a large nation-wide project created and overseen at a national level by the governing authorities of the time.

The Passages Spread Over 1,600 Square Kilometers

Experts have dug out similar war passages in Yongqing, Xiong county, and Bazhou. The ancient war passages are about 65 kilometers from east to west, 25 kilometers from north to south, which extend through 1,600 square kilometers.

When the border between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty went as far west as Rongcheng county and Xushui county, it is thought that many ancient war passages existed in that area. How far the ancient war passages extended eastwards from Yongqing is still unknown.

Hiding Soldiers in the Ancient War Passages to Defend the Country

Amidst many legends about the underground network, one states that the ancient war passages were built by General Yang and his family; a family that produced three great generals over three generations.

Another legend suggests that General Yang Liulang used the underground passageways to defend the border. At the time (960-1127 AD), soldiers of the Liao Dynasty strictly guarded the lands north of Yongqing County. It is said that Yang Liulang built the passages to hide his soldiers underground so they could quickly defend against attacks launched by the Liao soldiers.

Experts point out that the underground passages may have been used as a base for launching attacks during wars fought in ancient China. As a means of defense throughout the years, people have built great walls in mountainous areas and water fields near rivers and lakes to block cavalries.

However, in the open plains, where it is difficult to use the terrain as a means of defense, the tunnels would have allowed soldiers to travel unseen below the earth.

The ancient war passages have become famous for the advantages they provide whether the troops are attacking or defending, and they have been named the “underground Great Wall.”

Ancient China: Lost City With Pyramid and Human Sacrifices Is Rewriting History

Apparently, some archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a lost city in China that were around for more than 3,000 years ago. On a hill above China’s Tuwei River, researchers found a large stepped pyramid that once served as a palace center, along with defensive stone walls, tool-making rubble, and many pits filled with sacrificial human skulls.

According to archaeologists, Bronze Age discoveries contradict our interpretation of early Chinese culture and occupation, indicating the loess highlands was home to a complex society long before the traditionally assumed ‘centers’ emerged in the Central Plains.

The ancient city dubbed Shimao was home to a pyramid that stood at least 230 feet tall (70 meters) and was guarded by a huge inner and outer wall.

Thousands of years ago when it flourished, from about 2300 BC to 1800 BC, the city spanned about 988 acres.

The pyramid was build-out of a loess hill, with 11 massive steps tapering as they ascend, the researchers write in a paper published in the journal Antiquity.

Beyond the entrance, they found a ‘large open plaza where rituals and political gatherings may have been held.’

According to the researchers, palaces were built atop the huge pyramid out of rammed earth with wooden pillars and roofing tiles.

It’s thought that the ruling elites lived atop the pyramid complex, which was likely also the site of artisanal or industrial craft production.

Eyes and anthropomorphic stone faces were found carved into the façade of the pyramid.

‘With its imposing height of at least 70 m, the pyramid could be seen from everywhere within the settlement, from the suburbs and even the rural fringes.

‘Thus it could well have provided a constant and overwhelming reminder to the Shimao population of the power of the ruling elites residing atop it – a concrete example of the ‘social pyramid.’

Researchers say mass sacrifices were also commonplace at Shimao, with six pits containing decapitated human heads discovered at the site on the outer rampart alone.

Human remains and jade objects associated with sacrifice were found at other Shimao monuments, as well.

‘The jade objects and human sacrifice may have imbued the very walls of Shimao with ritual and religious potency, amplifying its significance as a monumental center, enhancing the protective efficacy of the walls and making this a place of power in every sense,’ the authors wrote.

Notably, the researchers say the discoveries are indicative of Shimao’s status as a carefully constructed civilization.

‘This research reveals that by 2000 BC, the loess highland was home to a complex society representing the political and economic heartland,’ the authors wrote.

‘Significantly, it was found that Later Bronze Age core symbols associated with Central plains civilization were, in fact, created much earlier at Shimao.’

Tang-Dynasty Temple Complex Unearthed in Southwest China

Archaeologists have uncovered a temple complex dating back to the State of Nanzhao, a slave society established during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), according to the provincial research institute of cultural relics and archaeology in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

The complex situated at the Wuzhishan ruins in the city of Dali was found with 14 foundations for structures, 63 stone walls, and 23 ditches.

More than 40 tonnes of tiles, along with over 17,300 other relics including pottery were also unearthed, said Zhu Zhonghua, a researcher who leads the archaeological project.

From January to July 2020, archaeologists conducted the excavation work on an area of 6,000 square meters at the site, 600 meters to the south of Taihe.

Taihe was the first capital of the Nanzhao regime after its ethnic Bai tribal head united the six tribes of the Erhai Region.

In the complex, the researchers discovered a tile inscribed with the characters “Buddha sarira enshrined by the government,” which indicates that the Buddhist relics of Nanzhao’s royal court are likely to have been enshrined and worshiped inside the temple.

The complex is therefore believed to be a major religious site of Taihe, said the institute.

“Sarira” is a general term with a number of meanings, but is generally used to describe the bodily remains after a Buddhist cremation. The remains of Buddhist masters were often said to contain crystalline beads or pearl-like objects.

In the eastern part of the site, brick and tile kilns were also found with a large number of nails, gaskets, moulages, and other kiln ware, while defective glazed pottery was also unearthed.

The excavation helps reveal the layout characteristics of the temples built during the Nanzhao regime, the production status of the kilns, and funeral customs of the royal family, according to the institute.

Nanzhao reigned in what is now Yunnan Province as well as parts of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. Taihe was then the political and cultural center of the region. 

Meipu teeth shed light on the human settlement of Asia

María Martinón-Torres and José María Bermúdez de Castro, researchers at the Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), have participated in a study published in the Journal of Human Evolution, on one of the few human fossils known from late Early Pleistocene China, the Meipu teeth, which provides new information on the early settlement of continental Asia.

These are four dental pieces encountered at the start of the 1970s in the locality of Meipu, southern China.

These teeth. dated to between 780,000 and 990,000 years old, present a series of primitive characteristics that distinguish them from Homo erectus, the predominant species on the Asian continent during most of the Pleistocene.

The CENIEH researchers, together with scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing, have studied this sample, which had not been analyzed for five decades using image techniques not then available, like computerized axial microtomography, and compared it with today’s much more abundant fossil record.

“These teeth are one of the few manifestations we have from China of the earliest migrations out of Africa”, comments Bermúdez de Castro, coordinator of the Paleobiology Program at the CENIEH.

To date, the oldest fossils outside the African continent were found at the Dmanisi site in the Republic of Georgia and have been dated to 1.8 million years ago.

The Meipu fossils lack the specializations which characterize classic Homo erectus, such as the deep wrinkles or “crenulations” in the dentin, the tissue lying below the dental enamel.

Between the Dmanisi fossils and those of classic Homo erectus from China, the majority of which belong to the Middle Pleistocene, between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago, there is an important gap that hinders comprehension of what happened between the first arrival of hominins in continental Asia and the advent of Homo erectus.

An African story in Asia

In certain characteristics, like the moderate convexity of the incisors or the shape of the upper premolar, the Meipu teeth are more similar to those from human populations of the Early Pleistocene, such as Homo ergaster, or the hominins found at Dmanisi.

“We believe that the Meipu fossils predate the appearance of Homo erectus”, says Martinón-Torres, researcher and director of CENIEH.

Even though they have similar chronologies, the researchers highlight the differences from Homo antecessor, the species found at the Gran Dolina site in Atapuerca (Burgos).

“Meipu continues to tell an African story, while Homo antecessor has already embarked on its own truly European journey”, concludes Martinón-Torres.

Haunting pictures show a mass grave of 113 ancient human remains buried in clay pots in China

These haunting images show a mass grave of 113 ancient human remains buried in household clay pots. Archaeologists have discovered a group of 2,000-year-old tombs using a unique ancient burial method in central China.

A total of 113 human remains have been found and each of them was wrapped with two to three clay containers, reported the People’s Daily Online.

Chinese historians said the finding of the large-scale tomb site was significant in helping them understand the burial customs of the Western Han Dynasty (202BC-8).

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The group tombs are located in Huanghua City, northern China’s Hebei province, which was thought to be the site of an ancient city called Fudi.

Archaeologists discovered six tombs. The excavation efforts afterwards revealed that the site contained more than 100 chambers.

So far, experts have located 113 tombs. 

All the remains were buried using a method called ‘urn burial’, which means the corpses were wrapped using two to three large clay containers, such as urns, pots and bowls. 

A small hole would be drilled at a side of the clay coating. It’s believed that this was to let the soul of the deceased come and go freely. 

It was previously thought that ‘urn burial’ was only used on children. However, on this newly discovered site, six tombs were of adults while 107 belonged to children.

Zhang Baogang, the head of the Huanghua Museum, told a reporter from China’s Xinhua News Agency: ‘Due to river digging and the destruction of nature in the past 2,000 years, we have only managed to excavate part of the tomb site.

‘We have discovered remains some 150 metres (492 miles) south of the site, which means the number of adults having been buried in urns could be much higher.’

This was the first time Chinese archaeologists had found ‘urn burial’ being used on adults, Zhang said during an earlier interview. 

Zhang said that the tombs were thought to belong to civilians. As a result, the discovery was significant in helping them understand the burial customs of people living in Fudi, a fortress city built during the Western Han Dynasty (202BC-8)

Advanced 1,50,000-year-old pipework found under Chinese Pyramid

Who could have built such a complex structure 150,000 years ago, at a time when the man had barely started using fire?

The Baigong pipes are one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world. They can be found inside a badly-eroded pyramid standing on top of Mount Baigong in the Qinghai Province of northwestern China.

The collapsing pyramid once had triangular entrances on all three sides but over time, two of them caved in and are currently out of reach.

The one that remains goes deep inside the mountain. Iron scraps and strange-looking stones litter the floor, suggesting that a long time ago, this place saw activity.

The only surviving cave houses an intricate network of metal pipes, with diameters as large as 1.5 feet and as small as a toothpick. Dozens of pipes run straight into the mountain, leading who knows where.

Some of the archaeologists who inspected the site consider the pipework could have once supplied water inside the pyramid.

Their theory seems to be backed up by a multitude of iron pipes found on the shores of nearby Lake Toson. Those are also available in a range of lengths and diameters, some reaching above the water surface, others buried below.

Intrigued by these out of place artifacts, the Beijing Institute of Geology analyzed the pipes using a technique called thermoluminescence. This method allowed them to determine when the pipes were last subjected to high temperatures. The analysis revealed the pipes must have been crafted over 150,000 years ago.

And the mystery deepens even further. Analysis performed at a government-operated smeltery couldn’t determine all the exact compounds forming the pipes. Although the pipes were made up of ferric oxide, silicon dioxide, and calcium oxide, they also contained 8% of an unknown material.

There is no easy way to explain this mind-boggling discovery. Human presence in the region can be traced back to 30,000 years ago but was mainly composed of nomadic tribes. It would have been impossible for a primitive society to leave behind such an advanced structure.

A number of theories tried to explain who could have built these pipes and what purpose they might have served. An advanced but long-forgotten human civilization could have built a facility that required coolant, and the pipes leading to the nearby lake are all that’s left.

Another intriguing aspect is that the water in the lake is salty. And although there is a freshwater lake in the vicinity, there are no pipes leading into it. Why were they doing with all the saltwater?

A potential answer is an electrolysis. When an electric current is run through salt water, it breaks down the water into hydrogen and oxygen. Such products are a must-have for any civilization operating aircraft. That particular civilization doesn’t even have to be human.

At the other end of the theory spectrum, we have several geologists who believe the pipes are simply some type of unusual but natural formation.

The fact of the matter is that these are all just theories attempting to explain something that simply doesn’t fit with our currently accepted system of beliefs.

One thing is certain – until history is rewritten, anomalous artifacts such as the Baigong Pipes have no place in conventional textbooks.