Significance

Dashigu City of the Xia Dynasty is the only Erlitou Culture town discovered so far in China, filling in the archaeological gaps among the discoveries of Xia Dynasty city sites. It provides precious material for the study of town developments in ancient China, the social structure of the Xia Dynasty and perhaps even the origin of China's civilization.

The ancient city is believed to have served as a military city or the capital of a subordinate kingdom of the Xia Dynasty due to its great strategic importance. 

Since an abundance of historical remains of the Xia and Shang dynasties were discovered at the site, the discovery will be of great significance into the research on the relations between the Xia and the Shang dynasties, which are still unclear.

 Erlitou Culture (1900-1500BC)

With an area of about 3 square kilometers, the Erlitou Site lies in Yanshi, Henan Province, consisting of the city ruins of the late Xia Dynasty. Remains such as a palace, residential area, pottery and bronze workshops, and tombs were excavated there. Many stone, pottery, jade ware and bronze cultural relics were also unearthed at the site, among which the jue is known so far as the earliest bronze vessel excavated in China. The Erlitou Culture is named after the site.

The Erlitou Culture of the central plains of Northern China was the first state-level society in China, and its remains are believed to be linked with those of the Xia Dynasty. Remains of palatial buildings, royal tombs and paved roads were uncovered, leading to theories about the site representing a Xia capital.

The society employed advanced bronze technology. The earliest urbanization in the Bronze Age in China emerged during the Erlitou Culture. Some 38 calibrated radiocarbon dates derived from the Erlitou Site in Henan indicate that this culture may have flourished between 1900 and 1500BC. Erlitou is the largest among all of its contemporary sites in China, and sites containing Erlitou material assemblages have been found over a very broad region - mainly Henan, Southern Shanxi, Eastern Shaanxi and Hubei provinces.

Erlitou was characterized by a centralized and internally specialized government, evidenced by a great concentration of palatial foundations and various craft workshops in an urban center (Erlitou), and rapid cultural expansion over a large region.