Scientists from University College London (UCL) and Peking University discovered ceramic water pipes used in China four thousand years before the rise of centralized state power. Research published in the journal nature water.
Archaeologists have identified a network of ceramic water pipes and drainage ditches at Pinglyantai, where about 500 people lived four thousand years ago. The settlement had protective walls and was surrounded by a moat. Due to the characteristics of the climate, 45 cm of precipitation per month can fall here in the summer months.
To cope with the excessive rain, the people of Pinglyantai built a two-level drainage system. The ditches ran parallel to the rows of houses and diverted water from the residential area to a series of ceramic water pipes that carried the surrounding ditch. Each pipe section was 20 to 30 centimeters in diameter and 30 to 40 centimeters in length. Numerous segments were placed together to transport water over long distances.
“The discovery of this network of ceramic water pipes is remarkable because the Pinglyantai people were able to build and maintain this advanced Stone Age water management system without tools and the organization of a centralized power structure. The study’s lead author Yijie Zhuang of the UCLA Institute of Archeology said. “It will require significant community-wide planning and coordination, and it’s all done collaboratively.”
The level of complexity of the building belies archaeologists’ view that only a centralized state power with a ruling elite could combine the organization and tools to create a complex water management system.
The absence of signs of social hierarchy is indicated by small houses, which are then almost the same for all residents. No evidence of a social hierarchy was found in the excavations at the city cemetery either.
The drainage system described is the oldest discovered in China.
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