In addition to the city of Sizhoualong the banks of Yellow riverin China There is also another archaeological site that deserved the nickname of “Pompeii” Chinese: it is Lajiain northern China, an ancient dated village Between the III and the second millennium BCalso located along the yellow river and probably destroyed by one Mud floodjust like Sizhou.
Lajia’s settlement is associated with Culture of Qijiaone of the first to master the bronze processing in prehistoric China. This ancient civilization prospered into the Valley of the yellow river between the III and the second millennium BC, more precisely Between 2600 and 1600 BC During its evolution, he developed one marked agricultural vocationwhich contributed to a great Increase in the population in the area. Around the middle of the second millennium ac, the culture of Qijia began to declineprobably because of some climate change who compromised the outcome of the crops.
The Agricultural Village of Lajia It was destroyed around 1920 BC due to a sudden cataclysome event: in fact it was overwhelmed and buried by one mudperhaps originating from an earthquake, even if over the years scholars have proposed several theories. What really strikes this archaeological site, and which has contributed to the nickname of Chinese prehistoric “Pompeii” is it extraordinary state of conservation of the finds highlighted by archaeologists.
The thick layers of mud that have deposited on this village of the Bronze Age have in fact allowed the conservation of many organic materials that otherwise they would have degraded in other conditions, in fact sealing Over time, numerous objects of almost 4000 years ago. In addition to stone and bronze artifacts, archaeologists have found large quantities of seed of wheat, barley, and above all millet, which testify to the cultivation of these cereals by these agricultural communities. Although the rice was already known and cultivated, its diffusion was at the time still limited to southern parts of China, and during the bronze age she was just starting to spread in the area in which she prossed the culture of Qijia.
One of the most finds significant on the Lajia website consists of those that are considered The oldest spaghetti in the world. Within a ceramic container, archaeologists found real noodleswhich subsequent analyzes have shown to be a mile and wheat or barley. Rather widespread it was also thefarm: the remains of pigs were found (strangely not consumed for food purposes, but used for religious sacrifices), sheep and cattle.
As in the case of the eruption of Vesuvius who destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, also the flood that hit Lajia caused a massacre. In addition to what remained of the village, archaeologists have also found too numerous human remainsbelonging to the people killed by the sudden full of mud and, as well as the casts in Pompeii or the skeletons of Herculaneum, the unfortunate inhabitants of Lajia remained crystallized in the last moments of their life. The study of human remains has allowed Chinese scholars of get to know the populations better who lived in northern China between the end of the Neolithic and the beginning of the bronze age.
