New Scientist Int 21.03.2020

38 | New Scientist | 21 March 2020

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0 2 km

Liangzhu

SICHUAN Shijiahe

BEIJING

SHANGHAI

CENTRAL PLAINS

Yellow

River

Yangtze

East China

Sea

HONG KONG

Qiuwu dam HIGH DAM SYSTEM Villages

(forming reservoirs)

Tiaoxi river

Dazhe Mountains

Liangzhu

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

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