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XIA DYNASTY
Primarily, the Xia Dynasty was in oral histories, but there was no
substantiated evidence of this era until 1959 during an unprecedented
archeological find. Excavations at Erlitou, in the city of Yanshi,
unearthed what was most likely a capital of the Xia Dynasty. The
excavation site showed that the people were direct ancestors of the
Longhan and were predecessors of the Shang. The Xia was possibly founded
by Yu the Great.
Evidence of the Xia was confirmed utilizing radiocarbon mechanisms that
indicated that the Xia existed from 2205 - 1766 B.C. However, despite
this new archaeological evidence of the Xia, they are not universally
accepted as a true dynasty. Nevertheless, the Xia was the first
historical dynasty.
It is widely believed that the Xia were agrarian, and developed an
agrarian calendar, making use of bronze weapons, ceramics and pottery.
History books suggest that the first ancestor of the Chinese people was
born of a star and became known as the Yellow Emperor, Huang-ti, who was
likely a mythological figure, since he was characterized as being half
animal/half human. Also, there is a likelihood that the Yellow Emperor
lived well past the age of 100 and was titled as the Son of Heaven (it
is possible that Huang-ti gave that title to himself).
For further research and background, use these links:
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