The first Neolithic urban center on China's north Loess Plateau: The rise and fall of Shimao

Abstract Our recent interdisciplinary investigations have revealed an unexpected prehistorical complex settlement system developed in the north Loess Plateau, a region previously regarded as the frontier of Chinese civilization. Many of the settlements are stone fortifications built on hilltops, and the primary center was a massive (> 400 ha) stone walled site at Shimao in Shaanxi (ca. 2300–1800 cal. BCE). Shimao was composed of a central palatial terrace surrounded by two layers of stone enclosures. The settlement was built as a sophisticated defensive system, consisting of baffled gates, gate towers, bastions, and corner towers. Shimao was a regional political and ritual center, evidenced by the discoveries of human sacrifice performed prior to the construction of the fortification, large quantities of jades (some embedded in the stone walls), bronze metallurgy, a main gate decorated with polychrome murals, and walls furnished with anthropomorphic stone carvings. Elites were buried with elaborate jade and bronze/copper items, part of an assemblage of prestige and exotic goods obtained from distant areas. The discovery of Shimao revealed a unique trajectory to urbanism in China. Parallel to the Neolithic complex societies established by agriculturalists in other parts of China, Shimao played a central role in the spiritual and political world among agro-pastoralists of the north Loess Plateau region.