In this paper, stereo microscopy, polarizing microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Xray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, laser particle size analysis and wet chemical analysis were used to characterize the rammed earthen foundation unearthed in the Shang city at Zhengzhou. The research suggests that:the rammed earthen foundation has two layers:an upper and a lower layer. The upper layer contains rammed limeearth and the lower is rammed bare earth. The rammed limeearth (upper) layer has manmade calcium carbonate as a binding material and sand as aggregated material. The binding/aggregate ratio is 1∶2.68. These results show that the rammed limeearth is a sort of concrete soil composed of calcium carbonate and quartz. The B/A ration is close to that of the Ming Dynasty one(lime/earth/sand 1∶1∶1). This suggested that craftsmen of the Shang Dynasty had some excellent architectural skills.