Highlights
- Archaeologists in China discovered 5300 year old city
- Samples of advanced culture including dam, reservoir found in ruins
- Civilization was over due to decades long rains and floods
A recent research by an international team of researchers has discovered an ancient city that had gone anonymous. But how did the population of a city built 5,300 years ago in the east of China suddenly disappeared? Researchers are surprised to know the reason. Researchers say that the ruins of the city of Liangzhu in China show that the culture as a society was highly advanced at that time, especially agriculture and aquaculture.
They created the finest architectural structures and systems. This included things like canals, dams and reservoirs, which led to Liangzhu being called the ‘Venice of the East’. But how did it all disappear? Most researchers consider some kind of flooding to be the reason behind this. Geologist Christoph Spotl of the University of Innsbruck in Austria said a thin layer of soil was found on the preserved ruins, which points to the end of ancient civilization and the flooding of the Yangtze River or East China Sea.
Researchers solve the mystery
However, it is not possible to draw any precise conclusions from the soil layer. But a new study has solved this mystery to a great extent. Under the leadership of Haiwei Zhang of the University of China, Prof. Spottle and the team of researchers dug deeper. They examined mineral formations from two underwater caves in the region, where climatic conditions and chemical signatures have been preserved for thousands of years.
The city got washed away in the terrible rain
Examination of stalagmite samples showed that the collapse of the city of Liangzhu was caused by extreme rains that lasted possibly several decades, some 4,300 years ago. According to the research team, heavy monsoon rains probably caused severe flooding in the Yangtze River and destroyed dams and drains. So Liangzhu city ceased to exist and a large number of people were forced to migrate.
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