tures at a more rapid pace. The Longshan cultures of North China shared such technological developments as building walls of stamped earth, the use of the potter's wheel, and the use of improved high temperature kilns in which to produce predominantly grey ware. They also shared a common fund of beliefs, demonstrated by the practice of scapulimancy, or divination by applying heat to animal bones and interpreting the resulting cracks. There is some evidence of the beginning of metallurgy in Longshan cultures, but there is much more evidence of this at Erlitou in Central Henan, where there are the remains of a bronze foundry as well as the foundations of two very large houses. The Erlitou culture clearly developed out of Longshan, though what happened after that is in some dispute.
The civilization of the Shang introduced a significant new phase of development to China. There now appeared the characteristics usually associated with the emergence of civilization, meaning the formation of cities, the use of writing, an increase in occupational specialization, and a more complex social organization. China entered this phase late compared to the ancient civilizations of the Middle East. The Shang became the predominant power in North China, with the core of the Shang state in north Henan. There is evidence that the Shang dynasty began around 1600 B.C. Among the other differences between the Shang and its Neolithic predecessors is the horse-drawn chariot and the size and scale of its capital cities. Zhengzhou is one such city, and it is estimated that the walls surrounding the city are 2,385 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 30 feet high. It would have taken a considerable social organization to gather and direct the forces necessary to erect this wall, which would have taken at least 18 years to complete with 10,000 laborers.
In the Shang culture, as in other ancient cultures, there was no distinction between the sacred and t...