Multiple settlements

Some Shang sites, including settlements and tombs in Hebei province, were introduced as well at the conference. For example, from the Zhoujiazhuang site in Shijiazhuang which dates to the late stage of Shang, two grand tombs with tomb passages were discovered. This is the first time for archaeologists to find tombs of this type in Hebei, according to Wei Shuguang, a researcher at the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

Hebei is very close to the central area of the Shang Dynasty, but scholars were not very clear about its cultural features in the Shang period before. The latest discoveries show that multiple settlements were located in this area. They provide a reference for us to understand the governance system of the Shang Dynasty, says Xu.

According to Lei, in the past, 77 grand graves with tomb passages of the Shang period were discovered at nine sites in three provinces (Henan, Shandong and Shanxi), among which 57 are in the Yinxu Ruins. But this time, another 10 are found in Hebei and Shaanxi, two new provinces, and they will bring us a clearer picture of the Shang states and the whole dynasty.