Chengziya Archaeological Site

Chengziya
Roadside marker of the site
Chinese
Literal meaning	Chengziya Ruins
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chéngzǐyá Yízhǐ Wade–Giles Ch'eng2-tzu3-ya2 i2-chih3

Coordinates: 36°44′8.88″N 117°21′14.94″E / 36.7358000°N 117.3541500°E / 36.7358000; 117.3541500

Chengziya, also spelled Chengziyai, is a Chinese archaeological site and the location of the first discovery of the neolithic Longshan culture in 1928. The discovery of the Longshan culture at Chengziya was a significant step towards understanding the origins of Chinese civilization. Chengziya remains the largest prehistorical settlement found to date. The site is located in Shandong province, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the east of the provincial capital Jinan. It is protected and made accessible by the Chengziya Ruins Museum (Chinese: ; pinyin: Chéngzǐyá Yízhǐ Bówùguǎn).

Chengziya is located about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of Longshan Town (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) under the administration of Zhangqiu City and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the provincial capital of Jinan. The site is located immediately to the north of provincial road S102 and less than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the south of the Dragon Lake. Other landmarks in the area are Dongping Mausoleum (less than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the east) and the ruins of the old city wall.

The ancient settlement of Chengziya was constructed around 2500 BC and was located on a tableland near the old Guanlu and Wuyuan rivers. The name Chengziya, literally "town by the cliff" refers to this location and the wall that encloses the settlement. The Wuyan River flows in the north-south direction to the west of the settlement. The Chengziya settlement had rectangular layout (400 by 500 meters, 1300 by 1600 feet) with edges oriented along the north-south and east-west directions. While the western, southern, and eastern walls are straight, the northern wall juts outward following the terrain. The settlement hence covered an area of about 200,000 square meters and was enclosed by a hangtu (rammed earth) wall that stood about 7 metres (23 ft) tall, was 10 metres (33 ft) wide at the base and tapered off to a width 5 metres (16 ft) at the top. The technique for erecting the walls from pounded earth was a new innovation at the time. Successive layers ranging between 12 and 14 centimetres (5.5 in) in thickness were each compacted before the next layer was added. On the outside of the walls was a deep moat that was fed by water from a nearby river. As there are no major walls inside the settlement, the layout conforms to the style of a "platform city" (Chinese: ; pinyin: ).