Chinese archaeologists said Thursday they have discovered the remains of an ancient city in eastern Zhejiang Province, which could better prove the long history of Chinese civilization.

The relic was found near Mojiao Mountain between Liangzhu and Pingyao townships in Yuhang District of the provincial capital Hangzhou, said Bao Xianlun, director of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau.

Based on the remains, experts estimate the ancient city covered an area of about three square kilometers. There are still pieces of walls as high as four meters at the site.

The location of the ancient city should have been carefully selected and it can be dated prior to the late period of the Liangzhu culture (about 4,150 to 5,250 years ago), according to Liu Bin, a research fellow with the bureau.

The Liangzhu culture is believed to be one of the key prehistoric cultures in the Taihu Lake area. It is named after Liangzhu, where a number of relic sites have been discovered since the 1930s.

Yan Wenming, an archaeologist from Beijing University, said the discovery of the city remains showed that the Liangzhu culture period had entered an advanced development stage of prehistoric civilization.

(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2007)