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The “Chinese Pompeii” buried in 1680: the history of the archaeological site of Sizhou

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In China There is an archaeological site that is often nicknamed “Chinese Pompeii“: it is the city of Sizhou, destroyed in a few hours by a very violent full of the yellow river in 1680 and covered by a thick layer of silt And clay. Unlike what happened with Pompeii there are therefore no volcanic ashes but, beyond the primary cause of the disaster, both places have one in common extremely quick destruction and one burial lasting centuries.

The destruction of the city of Sizhou

The ruins of the city of Sizhou they are found in the county of Xuyiin the current urban center of Huai’an. Given its position between the Yellow river and the Blue river, The settlement at the end of the 1600s was considered a key commercial hub within the kingdom ofEmperor Kangxi. However, the city had a big problem: it was periodically affected by floods which flooded entire neighborhoods. Unfortunately in 1680 A period of violent rains occurred that caused an unprecedented flood: in a few hours the yellow river invaded of water and mud every street of the city, covering it completely and leaving it buried for more than three centuries.

An interesting aspect is that most likely the population It was notified and evacuated in time: We can deduce this from the fact that very few skeletons have been found inside Sizhou.

The rediscovery of the archaeological site

The city remained hidden from the sight for more than 300 years and the excavations began only in 1999. At the end of the works, in 2015it was realized that the inhabited center had an area of 2.4 km2. The city was characterized by an oval plant – similar in the shape of the shell of a turtle – and was surrounded by thick walls from 17 to the 24 meters, for a total length of 338 meters. The city was cut from north-west to the south-east from a long main road 75 meters and 4 widepaved with small blocks of rock and gravel. From this they branched out a series of secondary streets on which they looked out Houses, restaurants And shops – often equipped with a private courtyard.

Inside the site they were found relics Of extreme value: we are talking about stone and ceramic building components, as well as everyday objects, weapons, stone tools, iron and bone.
Starting from 2015 the Center was opened to the public and, as anticipated, the state of conservation is such as to make this site one of the most interesting in the area. These are the words of Chen Gangdeputy director of the Provincial Institute of Cultural Findings and Archeology of Jiangsu:

Compared to Pompeii, who was swallowed up by the magma in an instant, the city of Sizhou was swallowed by floods and buried in the silt, protected by atmospheric agents and the damage caused by man. In some respects, its integrity is not less than that of Pompeii