Clue from nature 1550 BC 📍 Erlitou, Henan (dig site)

Erlitou's last phase is dated about 1565-1530 BC, around the 1561-1550 BC eruptions; but the other proposed Xia-Shang boundary (about 1635-1610 BC) sits near the 1628 and 1611 BC eruptions too

Zhang et al. 2007 (wiggle-matched and Bayesian radiocarbon): Erlitou phase IV about 1565-1530 BC; Erligang lower overlaps. Scholars still argue whether the Xia-Shang change is the phase IV / Erligang break (about 1530 BC) or the phase II / III break (about 1635-1610 BC); Xu Hong even treats Erlitou as early Shang. With 11 eruptions of 5 Tg S or more in 1680-1500 BC (one every 16 years), any boundary lands within about 8 years of an eruption on average, so the archaeology cannot test the link at present.

How it connects

This clue from nature supports this hunch The early books remember failed harvests, mixed cold and heat and a five-year drought at the Xia's end; the ice cores show four eruptions in 1561-1550 BC, about when Erlitou ended fits, but so would almost any date

This clue from nature is a clue for Why did the Xia dynasty fall (about 1600 to 1530 BC), and do the omens told of its end remember a real eruption?

This clue from nature we read it in Zhang Xuelian, Qiu Shihua and others 2007, Xinzhai-Erlitou-Erligang archaeological dating sequence (Kaogu 2007 no. 8), as quoted in Chinese summaries: Erlitou phase I about 1735-1705 BC, phase IV about 1565-1530 BC

This clue from nature came from this step Checked the radiocarbon dates for the end of Erlitou; the Xia lead is parked