The Impact of Ancient Landscape Changes on the City Arrangement of the Early Shang Dynasty Capital Zhengzhou, Central China

Panpan Chen,Yan Tian,Lijie Yan,Hui Wang,Junjie Xu,Haiguo Zhai,Shugang Yang,Peng Lu,Ruixia Yang,Xia Wang,Michael Storozum,Qian Wu

doi:10.3389/feart.2021.656193

Abstract

Buried underneath modern Zhengzhou city in Henan Province, China, lies the archeological remains of one of the ancient capital cities of the Shang dynasty (1766 – 1122 BCE). Although it is likely that people planned this Shang capital city according to the demands of the surrounding environment, there is no clear relationship between the current environment, such as the hydrology and topography, and the ancient city’s layout. To better understand the relationship between planning principles used during the Shang dynasty and the nearby environment at Zhengzhou, we measured and sampled stratigraphic exposures at excavation locations throughout Zhengzhou. Through these excavations we obtained both absolute and relative chronological data from each culture layer, enabling us to use geospatial interpolation and analysis methods to reconstruct the ancient landscape. The results show that ancient city’s different activity areas had a close relationship with their environmental context. For example, the Shang dynasty palace was located on high ground and workshops were located down below along the courses of ancient rivers. In conclusion, we argue that research that merges geomorphology and archeology is a necessary prerequisite for understanding the development of urban areas.

Highlights

Cities are the most complex form of human settlement and are usually a signal of increasing sociopolitical complexity
The particle diameter is smaller than 4, which is less than 10% of the saltation load
The samples are poorly sorted as shown in the frequency distribution curve of sample 28 (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

Cities are the most complex form of human settlement and are usually a signal of increasing sociopolitical complexity. Based on evidence from archeological excavations, archeologists have uncovered a significant amount of evidence that the earliest settlements were small in size and. Ancient City Landscape Changes and Arrangement had limited functions and activity spaces (Trigger, 1989; Renfrew and Bahn, 1991; Liu, 2004; Lu et al, 2013). As population increased and settlements became more numerous, some of these settlements became “central places” as they developed into political, economic, and regional centers. Location and form of early cities is likely an outcome of a long term, regional, process of increasing socio-political complexity. The geographic position and spatial arrangement of early cities is a significant factor for understanding humanenvironment interactions

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Conclusion