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The catalogue
16 places to sift through. Narrow by kind, country, period or how firmly each one is established — contested and pseudoarchaeological claims are labelled here, never hidden.
🇨🇳 China · Submerged site
Tang to 1959 (208 CE – 1959, walls 1546–1563 Ming) · Sui/Tang / Ming / Qing Chinese
Ming county seat intentionally submerged 1959 for hydro-reservoir — stone lions, city wall and Qing mansions intact under 26–40 m fresh water.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Daxi (5500–3300) → Qujialing → Shijiahe 5500–2300 BCE · Daxi → Qujialing → Shijiahe (Middle Yangzi walled cities)
Earliest walled rice city in China (c.5500–3000 BCE) at Chengtoushan plateau on the Liyang Plain near Li County — 8 ha fortified town with 3 m rammed-earth wall 800 m diameter and outer moat,…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Late Longshan Taosi phase 2300–1900 BCE → Erlitou transition · Longshan (Taosi culture) → Early Xia? (Yao/Shun legend)
Late Longshan (Taosi phase) walled regional capital (c.2300–1900 BCE) at Tao Temple basin near Linfen, Shanxi — 280 ha enclosure (largest Longshan city in Yellow River basin) with rammed-earth outer…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Qujialing → Shijiahe 2600–2300 BCE (Jianghan Late Neolithic) → Meishan · Shijiahe culture (Middle Yangzi walled city)
Jianghan Plain walled mega-town (c.3000–2300 BCE, Shijiahe culture 2600–2300 BCE climax) northwest of Tianmen — 120 ha walled enclosure (1.2 km wall of rammed earth, moat) with inner palace 7 ha,…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Shu Late Bronze 1200–500 BCE · Shu–Sichuan Basin (successor to Sanxingdui)
Late Bronze Age ritual centre (1200–500 BCE) on Modi River at Chengdu, successor to Sanxingdui after its abrupt collapse c.1200 BCE, preserving elite sacrificial pits, gold foil sun-bird foil (now…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Early Shang Erligang 1600–1400 BCE (Xia→Shang transition) · Early Shang (Erligang culture, Zhengzhou phase)
Erligang (Zhengzhou Shang City) — Early Shang walled capital (c.1600–1400 BCE, Erligang culture) under modern Zhengzhou old city, excavated 1950s–80s An Jinhuai and Zou Heng (Henan Institute).
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Early Shang Erligang phase 1600–1300 BCE · Shang (Erligang) colonists over indigenous Yangtze
Earliest Shang walled town south of the Yellow River (c.1600–1300 BCE) at Panlong Lake north of Wuhan, proving Early Shang (Erligang phase) military–resource colonization 800 km south to control…
🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder
Early Bronze Age (~1900–1500 BCE; Xia to early Shang) · Erlitou ( Xia, early Bronze Age Chinese)
300-ha rammed-earth palace enclosure on the Luo River where 11,000 m² Palace No.1 and a bronze foundry document the transition from Longshan Neolithic to bronze kingship.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Shu Culture 1200–1000 BCE (Sanxingdui period III) · Shu (Sichuan Basin, non-Han?)
Shu Kingdom sacrificial pits (1200–1000 BCE) revealed 1929 and sensationally 1986 with two pits of bronzes unlike Anyang Shang: 2.6 m bronze standing figure, mask with 132 cm protruding eyes, and…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Liangzhu Culture 3400–2250 BCE (county late Neolithic) · Liangzhu (proto-Chinese Yangtze)
Neolithic Liangzhu culture capital (3400–2250 BCE) on Yangtze, covering 14.3 ha walled city with 6.3 km rectilinear earthen walls, hydraulic system with three dams and 26 km artificial canals to…
🇨🇳 China · Archaeological wonder
Ming Dynasty 1372–1540 CE (major 1484 rebuild) · Ming Han Chinese
Ming western gateway fortress (1372–1540) on Hexi Corridor terminus of Great Wall, 33,500 m² bastioned rammed-earth and brick rectangle abutting Qilian foothills and Black Mountain gorge.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Late Shang Dynasty c.1300–1046 BCE (Anyang period) · Shang Chinese
Late Shang capital (1300–1046 BCE) on Huan River, premier Bronze Age urban site of East Asia covering 30 km² with palatial foundations, royal tombs (Fu Hao intact 76), 150,000 oracle bones with…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Koguryo Kingdom 37 BCE–668 CE (Five Kingdoms period) – tombs 4th–7th c · Koguryo (proto-Korean in Manchuria)
Forty tombs of Koguryo Kingdom (37 BCE–668 CE) on Yalu, including General's Tomb (400 CE) – 31 m stepped pyramid of cut granite 12 layers recalling Mesoamerican form, and murals of lotus, hunting and…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Koguryo · Koguryo
Complex of Koguryo Tombs (Jian) in Jilin Province / DPRK, China is a Koguryo ancient city attributed to Koguryo culture. Inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site (ID 1135).
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Shang · Shang (Late)
Yinxu (Anyang) - Ruins of Yin in Henan Province, China is a Shang ancient city attributed to Shang (Late) culture. Inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site (ID 1114).
🇨🇳 China · Pyramid
Qin Dynasty · Qin / Han-precursor
Unopened earthen pyramid mound of Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BCE) with 600 pits, ~8000 terracotta warriors, chariots, weapons protecting subterranean bronze palace described by Sima Qian with mercury…
