China’s Earliest Urban Drainage System and Wheel Ruts Discovered at the Huaiyang Pingliangtai Ancient City Ruins

China’s Earliest Urban Drainage System and Wheel Ruts Discovered at the Huaiyang Pingliangtai Ancient City Ruins

淮阳平粮台古城遗址有了新发现 我国最早的城市排水系统、最早的车辙

News from Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology on March 25 showed that archaeologists made new discoveries at the Pingliangtai Ancient City Ruins in Huaiyang district of Zhoukou city, Henan province, after the discovery of China’s earliest drainage pipe there in the 1980s.

3月25日，记者从河南省文物考古研究院获悉，继上世纪80年代发现中国最早的排水管道后，淮阳平粮台古城遗址又有了新发现。

Drainage system excavated in the Pingliangtai Ancient City Ruins in Huaiyang. [Photo provided to dahe.cn]

“3 sets of pottery pipes interlink with another, each has both water inlet and outlet at ends, and the drainage ditches link with those pipes.” Cao Pengyan, associate research fellow with the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and head of the Pingliangtai Ancient City Ruins Archaeological Project, remarked that these pipes arranged along the row houses or under the wall base, together with the east-west and south-north ditches, formed China’s earliest and most complete urban drainage system.

“不但在南城墙和城内高台式排房的室外垫土之下新发现3组节节套扣在一起的陶排水管，两端有进水口、出水口，而且城内还发现了与陶排水管相连的水沟。”省文物考古研究院副研究员、淮阳平粮台遗址项目负责人曹艳朋说，这些纵穿城墙基础或沿排房建筑的外缘平行分布的排水管和东西、南北向水沟共同构成了目前所知的我国最早的、最为完备的城市排水系统。

In addition, several wheel ruts were also found on the early road near the south gate. Among them, one set of parallel ruts belonged to a “two-wheeled vehicle” with a spacing of 0.8 meters, which has at least 4,200-year history by carbon-14 analysis. They are believed to be China’s earliest wheel ruts.

同时，在南城门附近早期道路路面上发现有车辙痕迹。其中，一组平行车辙间距0.8米，为“双轮车”车辙印迹。经碳14测年，其绝对年代距今4200年。这是我国到目前为止发现的年代最早的双轮车车辙痕迹。

Panoramic view of the Pingliangtai Ancient City Ruins. [Photo provided to dahe.cn]

Systematic excavation and digital analysis have identified the square wall and symmetrical gate structure of the Pingliangtai Ancient City Ruins. In the center of the city, archaeologists found a south-north road, belonging to the Longshan Culture, towards the south and the north gates respectively. Judging from the east-west row houses separated by this road, the south and the north gates, together with this south-north road, actually played a role of “central axis”.

此外，通过系统钻探和数字化记录分析，证实了平粮台龙山城址的正方城墙和对称城门结构。在城内“中轴线”位置发现一条南北走向的龙山时期道路，两端分别对应南、北城门。从城址内探明和发掘的东西向排房以此道路相分隔的情况看，这条道路和南、北城门已经具备了“中轴线”的实际意义。

“Archaeological excavations show that the Pingliangtai Ancient City Ruins in Huaiyang is the earliest, well-planned and high-grade prehistoric city site in China, which is of great significance in China’s urban development since it is a precedent in China’s urban construction and planning,” said Cao Yanpeng.

“考古发掘表明，平粮台古城城址是我国最早的、规划严整的高等级史前城址，开了中国城市建设规划的先河，在中国城市发展史上具有里程碑式的意义。”曹艳朋说。（记者 温小娟 翻译 赵汉青 审校 李文竞）