38 | New Scientist | 21 March 2020
MAIN IMAGE AND ABOVE: XINHUA/ALAMY
COPY SUB
PAGE SUB
OK for press
0 2km
Liangzhu
SICHUAN Shijiahe
BEIJING
SHANGHAI
CENTRAL PLAINS
Yellow
River
Yangtze
East China
Sea
HONG KONG
Qiuwu dam HIGH DAM SYSTEM Villages
(forming reservoirs)
Ti aoxi river
Dazhe Mountains
Li angzhu
Dams
SOURCE: DOI.ORG/GF77XT
LOW DAM SYSTEM
Neolithic Venice of the East
Between about 5500 and 4300 years ago, the inhabitants of Liangzhu used sophisticated hydraulic engineering
to control the surrounding floodplains and feed a system of canals within the walled city
China’s original cultural
revolution
Starting more than 5000 years ago, many settlements
arose along the Yangtze and Yellow rivers and in what
is now Sichuan province. Although none was as large
and sophisticated as Liangzhu, they point to an early
culture that is rewriting Chinese prehistory
Neolithic sites
Palatial
complex
Water gates
Land gate
Artefacts found at
Liangzhu include
black pottery (far left)
and jade vessels
(left and below)
Neolithic hydraulic
engineering around
Liangzhu has no equal
in the ancient world
AGEFOTOSTOCK/ALAMY