考古學上所見最早的秦文化遺存是甘肅甘谷毛家坪遺址。在甘肅的天水、禮縣和陝西的寶雞，屢次發現秦遺物，證明秦從甘肅東部逐漸向東遷移。公元前677年遷都雍城(今陝西鳳翔)，公元前383年再遷都樸陽(今陝西臨潼)，雍城遺址和雍城南面的秦公陵園，樸陽城遺址和其附近的秦東陵，都做過考古發掘，對秦文化的形成發展了明確的認識。公元前221年秦始皇統一中國，建立了中國歷史上第一個中央集權制王朝。最能代表秦文化的咸陽宮和付「碣石宮」遺址，規模巨大的秦始皇陵園和秦兵馬俑坑，以及分布於甘肅、寧夏、陝西、內蒙古、河北、遼寧各省的秦長城遺跡，通過考古學的發掘調查和研究，都獲得了新的成果。秦始皇改封建為郡縣，統一文字、度量衡、貨幣，對中國歷史作出了巨大貢獻。但秦祚短暫，考古學上證明秦統一的事業是到漢武帝時才逐步完成的。

The earliest archaeological finds of Qin culture are at the site of Mao-jia Ping, Gan-gu, Gan-su province. The finds unearthed at Tianshui, Li-xian of Gan-su and Bao-ji of Shan-xi testify to the eastward move of the Qin people from the eastern Gan-su. In 677 B.C., Qin people moved their capital to Yong-cheng, and in 383 B.C., moved again eastward to Li-yang. The remains at these two cities and the near imperial mausoleums shed much light on the development of Qin culture at the time. The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. and established the first centralized dynasty in Chinese history. The imperial palaces at Xian-yang and Jie-shi, the mausoleum of the First Emperor, the remains of the Great Wall discovered in Gan-su, Ning-xia, Shan-xi, Inner Mongolia, He-bei, and Liao-ning show well the further development of Qin culture. Yet, the Qin dynasty did not last long. A true unification of China was not completed until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty.

甘谷毛家坪；雍城；咸陽宮；秦始皇陵；秦長城

Mao-jia Ping；Yong-cheng；Palace at Xian-yang；the Great Wall of Qin；The Mausoleum of the First Emperor