Shimao Site: The largest prehistoric city site in China, known as the 'Stone Breaks the Sky'

The Shimao Site is located in Gaojiabao Town, Shenmu, Shaanxi Province, on a plateau ridge in the northern part of the Loess Plateau and the southern edge of the Maowusu Desert. This massive prehistoric ancient city site is rewriting ancient Chinese history and the origin of Chinese civilization. 

"Shimao is one of the largest, best preserved and central capital sites in China and even in East Asia in the late Neolithic period. The study of Shimao is of great significance for explaining the early development of our Chinese civilization more than 4000 years ago," said Han Jianye, a professor at the School of History of Renmin University of China. 

The Shimao Site is a super large city consisting of three parts of stone walls: the "Imperial City Platform", the inner city, and the outer city. It covers an area of over 4 square kilometers and is densely distributed with a large number of palace buildings, house sites, tombs, handicraft workshops, and other relics from the late Longshan Culture to the early Xia Dynasty. It has produced a large number of precious cultural relics such as stone carvings, painted murals, divination tools, production and living tools, decorations, weapons, and jade artifacts. It is currently the largest prehistoric city site discovered in China. Archaeological findings indicate that the Shimao site has demonstrated a high level of civilization in agriculture, architecture, art, music, astronomy, and faith, becoming an important evidence of the 5000 year Chinese civilization. In recent years, the Shimao Site has been selected as one of the "Top Ten Field Archaeological Discoveries in the World" and "Six New Archaeological Discoveries in China".