Beneath the eastern wall at Chengtoushan a 100 meter square rice paddy dated to the Tiangjiagang culture (4500-4300 BC) was discovered; this is one of the earliest rice fields known in the world.
The large fortified rammed earth wall is 26.8 meters wide at the base and today still stands five to six meters tall. Outside the wall is a moat, 35-50 meters wide. A total of 80,000 square meters is enclosed by the wall.
Components identified at the site include a Qujialing period residental area, and several large cemeteries of the Daxi culture. A large Daxi culture platform (250 meters square) apparently served as an altar, with over 40 sacrificial pits and some human victims.
Source
Yang, Xiaoneng. 2004. Walled settlement site at Chentoushan, Lixian, Human Province. pp. 94-95 in Chinese Archaeology in the Twentieth Century: New Perspectives on China's Past. Yale University Press, New Haven.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
