It succeeded the Qujialing culture in the same region and inherited its unique artefact of painted spindle whorls.

In addition to walls, moats were also dug around towns and urban centers in the same fashion as the constructed channels.

Researchers estimate that a total labor force of 200,000 to 470,000 people was needed to construct the moat and walls at this site.

Some scholars have speculated that Shijiahe could have been considered an ancient state due to its relatively advanced socio-political structure.

[4] Other scholars note that the Shijiahe and other cultures along the Yangtze were more socially complex and developed than their northern contemporaries in the Han Valley.