Ancient city run as fiefdom found in China's Shaanxi

An ancient site in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has been identified as the major city run as a fiefdom that dates back to the late Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC) and the early Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), according to the provincial institute of archaeology.

The Taoqu site, located in Zhiyang Town in Hancheng City, was discovered in the 1980s. In May 2020, archaeologists began exploration and excavation of the site.

After dedicating over two years of effort, they discovered that the historical site from this period encompasses 800,000 square meters and features high-level and common residential sites, as well as tombs of varying sizes.

Archaeologists have so far unearthed seven large tombs on the site. A large number of slab tiles, tubular tiles, pottery fragments, bone tools, as well as some bronze ware have been found in these tombs, said Geng Qinggang, a researcher with the institute.

The age of the tombs, burial customs and inscriptions on the bronze ware provide preliminary evidence to suggest that the Taoqu site served as the center of a fiefdom during the late Western Zhou Dynasty and the early Spring and Autumn Period, Geng added.

These findings hold significant academic value for studying historical topics like the enfeoffment system, political geography and ethnic integration, according to Geng.