The first Neolithic urban center on China's Loess Plateau: Discovery and Investigation of the Shimao Site, SUN Zhouyong, Director, Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology

Discussants: CHEN Xingcan, Director, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Anne UNDERHILL, Chair, Department of Anthropology, Yale University Rowan FLAD, John E. Hudson Professor of Archaeology, Harvard University The Shimao site is the largest Neolithic stone-walled settlement in China at around 400 ha. The discovery of Shimao reveals a unique trajectory towards urbanism in late Neolithic China (ca. 2300-1800 BCE) and represents a powerful polity only known from these archaeological finds. Discovery of this site has forced a radical reconsideration of the nature of early complex society in Northern China.