A city's name can often indicate its status in a nation's history.

Nanjing means "southern capital city" in Chinese. Only Beijing, meaning "northern capital city" can claim such a descriptive identity.

The city, now capital of East China's Jiangsu province, was once widely considered to have an urban history of 2,500 years, but new archaeological research rewrites that. This has found that it was founded more than 3,100 years ago when an ancient city, named "Changgan", was recently excavated.

Dating to the Shang and Zhou dynasties (c.16th century-256 BC), archaeologists found that the "city's walls were flanked by trenches", which is an important indicator of a fortification system used by ancient cities, says Chen Dahai, head of the archaeological excavation team, and an associate professor at the Nanjing Archaeological Research Institute.

Chen made the comments during a seminar last week discussing the latest findings in Nanjing.

In the history of the ancient fortification system, trenches emerged before walls. They surrounded the living area to prevent floods and deter enemies, according to Chen. He says at least four encompassing trenches built in different periods during the Shang and Zhou dynasties were detected.

Aside from portions of the city's walls and trenches, archaeologists discovered a fascinating history of a city with water wells built in the late Shang Dynasty, kilns for brick firing and a pit for pig sacrifices. Covering about 12,000 square meters, the area of Xijie, or west street, has seen more than 500 heritage sites unearthed and more than 10,000 cultural relics, such as pottery vessels, jade discs, ceramics and copper tools.

"The site provides important clues to decode Nanjing's past and how it developed," Chen says.

Often hailed as the "ancient capital of six dynasties", Nanjing has served as the center of dynasties and kingdoms throughout its rich history. The city was the seat of imperial power of six dynasties ruling the southern China from the 3rd to 6th century. It was also the national capital of a united China from 1368 to 1420 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Historians used to estimate that Nanjing was founded in 472 BC, when Gou Jian, the king of the Yue vassal state, built city walls at the southwest corner of the present Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing.

"Although no obvious heritage structure was unearthed, such as a gatehouse and turrets, we discovered clear evidence and clues indicating the reason for the city's construction and its development over thousands of years," Chen says, adding that the city's original site may have been destroyed.

He says building on higher terrain, Changgan ancient city was located at the mouth of the ancient Qinhuai River, which was easy to defend and hard to attack, making it a significant military location.

The latest archaeological findings may reshape the city's history, with its emergence tracing back to more than 3,100 years ago. Wang Wei, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Archaeology Department, highlights the discovery as a remarkable archaeological finding in tracing the Nanjing's origins.

As archaeologists dug, different soil layers were revealed, which documented the chronology of the city's change and evolution from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC), to the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, according to Chen.

Among the unearthed pottery, some have patterns or characteristics found in the Erligang culture in the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC), the 3,300-year-old Yinxu Ruins and the Maqiao culture in Taihu Lake region, He Yun'ao, a professor of history at Nanjing University, told the seminar.

"Due to its geographic location, Nanjing has played an important role in the development of the Chinese civilization. Starting from the ancient city of Changgan, it has become a place for the inheritance and continuation of the Chinese civilization and a hub for the convergence and dissemination of the northern and southern cultures for more than 3,000 years," He says.

The excavation began in 2017 after the Nanjing government launched predevelopment work for urban planning in the city's southern area, which is located in the Changganli Ancient City relics site. This is one of Nanjing's key protection zones for subterranean heritage. In 2020, archaeologists conducted a proactive archaeological survey of the site.

Wang suggested developing the Changgan ancient city site into a relics park and a museum to let the public be better involved in sharing the archaeological discoveries and the latest excavation process.

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