A Review of Studies on Prehistoric Settlements and Early Cities in China

This paper reviews the studies on prehistoric settlements and early cities in China. In spite of a long history of studies of Chinese history, studies on prehistoric settlements and early cities started as late as early 20th century when modern archaeology was introduced from the West. The first part of this paper reviews the studies on prehistoric settlements, pointing out that the studies mostly focus on the formation of settlements, and then on the archaeological culture of settlements. The second part of this paper reviews the studies of early cities, pointing out that the study interests include the origin and development of cities, the definition of city, the relations between walls and early cities, and the application of research methods of geography. This paper also introduces the author' s own views on these two study topics.