The alignment of the east outer city gate at the ancient Chinese city of Shimao

Abstract

Founded around 4200 BP, the ancient city of Shimao is a milestone in research on the origin of Chinese civilization. The East Outer City Gate is the earliest systematically excavated archaeological site in this early city. The structure and orientation of the building, the sacrificial pit arrangements and human sacrifice rites used in the cornerstone-laying ceremony, are all very special and mysterious. This paper shall, preliminarily verify the profound cultural connotations contained in the East Outer City Gate through statistical analyses, scientifically computed data and empirical measurements from the perspectives of archaeology, archaeoastronomy, palaeography and philology etc. Secondly, this paper will try to explore and recreate the astronomy, cosmology and beliefs system of the Shimao people.