East Asia's oldest observatory is about 4,000 years old. At Taosi in China, slots in an ancient structure seem to have framed the sunrise on the solstices, helping keep a solar calendar.

2100 BC

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• Xia dynastyc. 2070 BC · Erlitou. Chinese tradition holds that Yu the Great founded the Xia, the first dynasty. Its historicity is debated, but many scholars link it to the Erlitou culture on the Yellow River, one of China's earliest states.

21st century BC

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