Archaeologists have unearthed what is believed to be the earliest section of the Great Wall of China.
It pushes back the estimated origins of the wall, which is one of the largest manmade structures on Earth, by 300 years.
The remarkable find, located in Changqing District, within the capital city of the Chinese province of Shandong, includes walls which date back to China’s early Spring and Autumn Period of between 770 BCE and 476 BCE – the time of philosopher Confucius.
They may even date back further, to the late Western Zhou Dynasty, of between 1046 and 771 BCE.
The Great Wall of China stretches for more than 13,000 miles from Dandong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc which roughly traces the southern edge of Inner Mongolia.
It consists of numerous walls built by individual Chinese kingdoms to protect them from barbarian invaders and aggressive neighbours, which were constructed over the course of about two millennia.
The new discovery comes from an excavation at the Qi Wall, which is claimed to be one of the earliest and longest ancient Chinese walls, and played a significant role in the military strategy of the small state of Qi – one of the most powerful states in the country.
The Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology led an excavation between May and December last year, taking in approximately 1,100 square metres (11,840 square feet) of land in the northern part of Guangli Village, the online magazine Archaeology News has reported.
Archaeologists have unearthed what is believed to be the earliest section of the Great Wall of China
The remarkable find, located in Changqing District, within the capital city of the Chinese province of Shandong, includes walls which date back to China’s early Spring and Autumn Period of between 770 BCE and 476 BCE – the time of philosopher Confucius
According to project leader Zhang Su, several distinct phases of wall construction were uncovered.
These may have spanned both the time of the Western Zhou dynasty, before 771BCE, and the later Eastern Zhou dynasty, when the Zhou kings’ feudal system was starting to break down and they were forced to flee a nomadic invasion, leaving their capital in western China for a new capital in the east.
The oldest walls, from the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty, when many small squabbling states in China fought and competed for supremacy, were about 10 metres (33 feet) thick.
They show evidence of their foundation possibly dating back to the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Later walls are mainly from the Warring States Period of 475 BCE 221 BCE, when the small states under the Zhou dynasty, locked in a power struggle for land and political control, consolidated into seven strong kingdoms.
These later walls display far more advanced construction techniques, with the most robust being more than 30 metres (98 feet) in width.
The final phase, built under King Xuan of Qi, who lived from approximately 350 to 301 BCE, is well-preserved and made using fine, yellow earth, compacted with metal rammers.
The archaeological investigation included analysis of artefacts, soil sampling and carbon-14 dating.
It discovered semi-subterranean dwellings beneath early walls in the northern excavation area, which reveal a snapshot of life in small settlements before these fortifications were built.
An ancient settlement, Pingyin City, was identified about a mile north of the Qi Wall by the team.
Historical texts refer to Pingyin as a critical stronghold for Qi State, in protecting transportation routes and border security during conflict with the Jin dynasty.
Archaeological excavations have confirmed a western city wall, stretching at least 500 metres in length, along with evidence of trenches and fortified gates mentioned in ancient texts.
The walls illustrate China’s mastery of engineering even before unification, which came at the end of the Warring States period, when the state of Qin conquered all other states and established the Qin dynasty.
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