Chinese 'Pompeii' discovered in Hunan

Chinese 'Pompeii' discovered in Hunan
17:01, August 20, 2010

Xinhua Photo

A picture of a large-scale catastrophe from ancient history and a cultural relic, "Shiwangutian", refers to an ancient farming and settlement site, in Chengbu County in Hunan were shown on an archeology forum on Aug. 18.

As Pompeii in Italy which was destroyed by the volcanic eruption, the Chengbu Shiwangutian was destroyed by a plague of locusts during the Qing Dynasty.

According to Zeng Xiaoguang, Deputy Director of Cultural Heritage Bureau in Shaoyang City in Hunan, after the locusts' plague, the site was turned into an uninhabited area and a large amount of cultural relics were preserved. The site has become a cultural relic in China.

Shiwangutian is in a trapezoid shape that is higher in the north and lower in the south. It has been divided into upper part, middle part and lower part. There is a big circle with the diameter of 300 meters in the middle part of the farmland. It has been considered to be the site of an ancient city. There is also a three meters wide moat surrounding the ancient city.

The archeological researchers have also discovered a "Hu Guang ancient post road." The road started in Chengbu Miao Autonomous County and ended in Ziyuan County in Guangxi in a west-east direction that running through the middle part.

By Wang Qianyuanxue, People's Daily Online

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