Chinese archaeologists have discovered the remains of houses
dating back 6,000 years in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
The remains were located on a section of a farming terrace in
Linglong Village, Chencang District of Baoji City. The remains were
about one fifth the size of the original houses which are estimated
to be nearly 200 square meters, archaeologists said.
The houses were built on two 8 to 10-cm-thick layers of hard
earth. The remains of a wall is nearly 15 meters long and 40 to 50
cm wide, and 103 cm tall.
A 1.6 meter ditch was found outside the wall, which
archaeologists believe was used to discharge water.
The remains were destroyed during the middle or end of the
Yangshao Culture dating back 5,000 to 7,000 years when people
usually lived in houses built partly underground, said an expert
with an archaeology team of Baoji.
However, the remains show the houses were built above ground,
indicating that people during the Yangshao Culture period had
already begun to built houses above ground.
The discovery also shows that ancient people were aware of the
advantages of building houses on the ground. They were more
convenient to entry, dryer and let in more sunlight, the expert
said.
The Yangshao Culture, known for its painted pottery with a
variety of finely designed geometrical patterns, was centered in
the middle reaches of the Yellow River and extended to central
China's Hubei Province and north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region.
It remains unclear whether the houses had a special purpose such
as offering sacrifices to gods or ancestors, said
archaeologists.
(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2006)
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