A team of archaeologists has discovered a 3,200-year-old settlement site in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province that may offer a new perspective on the late Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC).

The researchers found large-scale rammed-earth buildings, tombs, ash pits, and pottery molds at the newly discovered settlement in Zhaigou archeological site.

It spans over 3 million square meters on the Loess Plateau, State-run Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

Sun Zhanwei, a researcher at the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, said the bronze chariots and horses, jade ware, bone ware, lacquerware, and tortoise shells discovered resemble those previously unearthed from the similar site of Yinxu.

Yinxu, a 3,300-year-old archaeological site located 500 km south of Beijing, was the capital of the late Shang Dynasty.

The discovery confirms that the Shang civilization had a strong influence on its surrounding areas and had developed close economic and cultural relations with the regional rulers of the Shaanxi region.

The new archaeological findings suggest a highly developed bronze civilization in northern Shaanxi, which is a breakthrough in the archaeological study of the Shang Dynasty