Chinese archaeologists on Monday announced they have found the remains of ancient stone paving dating back to the Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.-1046 B.C.) in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

The remains cover an area of about 30,000 square meters and are believed to have been used for sacrificial rituals. They are located in the Panlongcheng ruins which cover 3.5 square km.

A well-preserved, 2.4-meter-long and 2-meter-wide stone stylobate was unearthed. Archaeologists discovered signs of burnt soil surrounding the stylobate and numerous traces of human activities.

The discovery is extremely rare in the archaeological study of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties in the Yangtze River basin, and provides important materials for the study of Panlongcheng's layout and the beliefs of ancient people in the basin, according to experts.

The Panlongcheng ruins constitute the largest Xia Dynasty (2070 B.C.-1600 B.C.) or Shang Dynasty city ever found in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. They are also the settlement most representative of early Bronze Age civilizations in the basin. 

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