In China, archaeologists during excavations in the city of Kaifeng discovered the ruins of the inner city gate from the reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126 AD), when this city was the capital of the state. According to the Xinhua news agency, these are the largest remains of a city gate from the Northern Song Dynasty period found in the entire history of research.
The discovery was made in the city of Kaifeng, which for 168 years was the ancient capital of the Northern Song state. The gate found is called Jinglong. This is the only inner gate of the ancient capital discovered to date.
“The overall scale of Jinglong Gate is larger than that of the Shuntian Gate in the ancient Song capital, which was discovered earlier,” says archaeologist Wang Sanying, noting that the width of the excavated gate is about 60 meters and its length is 19.3 meters.
The study of the gate will help clarify the location of the imperial palace and other large buildings. The discovery also sheds new light on the urban layout itself.
In addition, during the excavations, archaeologists also discovered walls built during different periods, ranging from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). Studying the ruins will allow you to follow the evolution of Kaifeng City itself.
“New discoveries have shown that the Jin dynasty (1115-1234 AD), which overthrew the Song regime, did not move its capital to the Song capital, as researchers had previously assumed,” the authors of the discovery summarized.
Meanwhile, in the city of Shaoxing in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, another study has uncovered the foundations of large buildings dating back some 2,500 years.
Citing data from the National Administration of Cultural Heritage, Xinhua writes that this discovery is the first evidence of the presence of such structures from the Warring States period (475-221 BC) in the city.
In this case, we are talking about the capital of the ancient state of Yue, which archaeologists have been searching for for many years. Perhaps the discovery of large buildings will provide a clue as to where the capital was located.
