Heritage park to protect China鈥檚 Pompeii
Print Edition
A HERITAGE park to protect China’s only prehistoric ruins of a natural disaster is to be created in the northwestern province of Qinghai.
The Lajia site, in Minhe County on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, was discovered in 1981. The 680,000-square-meter area was the result of an earthquake and flood dating back 4,000 years.
The site is an example of Qijia Culture, which flourished in the transitional period from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, 3,500 to 4,000 years ago, according to archeologists. Skeletons, tools and homeware have been unearthed on the site.
Archeologists said Lajia is the only site of its kind in China, and it has been dubbed the Oriental Pompeii, the ancient Roman city destroyed by volcanic eruptions.
“Globally speaking, ruins left from natural disasters like the Lajia site are rare. Its value needs to be further explored,” said Wang Wei, head of the archeology institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Many of China’s heritage sites have been threatened by urbanization, and building parks can both preserve the sites and better engage the public, Wang said.
The park will cover 102 hectares and cost 475 million yuan (US$73 million). A museum, galleries and other public facilities will be built, local authorities said.
Findings at Lajia include the world’s oldest intact noodles. They were found under a red pottery bowl. In 2005, scientists examined the noodles and confirmed they were made from millet.
Scientists said that judging from where the noodles were placed, they may have been used for sacrifice rather than daily meals.
Lajia has led to several scientific discoveries.
In August this year, Chinese and American scientists said they found what could be geological evidence of an earthquake-triggered landslide, which blocked the Yellow River and possibly led one of the largest floods in 10,000 years.
Scientists dated the flood area using radiocarbon dating on skeletons of children who died in the earthquake at Lajia.
The flood happened around 1920 BC, two to three centuries later than traditionally thought, meaning the Xia Dynasty may have started later than historians think, said Wu Qinglong of Nanjing Normal University, who led the study.
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