The reporter learned from the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology on the 9th that, according to the latest archaeological results, the area of the ancient city of Shijiahe in Tianmen, Hubei, has been updated from 1.2 million square meters to 3.485 million square meters, which is the largest ancient city in the same period in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River; At the same time, the water conservancy system of the ancient city has also been newly discovered, providing new and important materials for further study of the ancient city of Shijiahe and the civilization process of the Yangtze River. The Shijiahe site, located in the heart of the Jianghan Plain in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, was discovered in the 1950s. It is the largest, longest lasting, and highest ranking prehistoric settlement group found in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The span is from 5900 to 3800 years ago, which is the key period for the formation of Chinese civilization. In 1992, a large prehistoric city site, the ancient city of Shijiahe, was discovered here. At that time, the proved area was 1.2 million square meters. Over the years, the archaeological research around the ancient city site of Shijiahe has never been interrupted. In 2022, the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, together with Peking University and Tianmen Museum, will carry out a comprehensive and systematic survey and exploration of the ancient city of Shijiahe with the help of multidisciplinary forces such as geoscience, surveying and mapping, and water conservancy. After field investigation, exploration and local trial excavation, it is confirmed that Shijiahe Ancient City is composed of inner city, moat (moat) and outer city, with a total area of 3.485 million square meters, which is equivalent to the scale of Liangzhu Ancient City in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Archaeologists also found the water conservancy system of the ancient city, confirmed the water conservancy facilities of the ancient city such as the river, water gate, barrage and small reservoir in the inner city for the first time, and also found the remains of prehistoric rice fields near the southwest water system of the ancient city. Experts analyzed that the ancient people of Shijiahe could use this water conservancy system to achieve flood control, water storage, water diversion into the city, and meet production water demand for living and agricultural irrigation. In addition, the exquisite jade wares unearthed at the Shijiahe site have exquisite carving skills and distinctive regional characteristics, which play an important role in the prehistoric jade wares of China. The site has unearthed more than 400 jade articles. Among them, jade figurines with different shapes are typical representatives. The exaggerated eyes and ears of some jade figurines are highly similar to the facial features of the bronze figurines unearthed in Sanxingdui in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Fang Qin, the head of the archaeological excavation project and the president of the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, introduced that the discovery of the large-scale Shijiahe Ancient City and its water conservancy system has deepened the understanding of the planning and layout of the ancient city in the Yangtze River basin, and also reflected the highly developed human civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River 5000 years ago. Archaeologists have deepened their understanding of the prehistoric civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River through nearly 70 years of scientific archaeology at the Shijiahe site. (Outlook New Era)