Scholarly opinion is divided on the question of whether the cultural remains of Erlitou Periods III and IV belong to the early Shang. This paper carries the analysis of the remains from these two periods one step further, emphasizing a group of new cultural elements, including li-cauldrons, wide-mouthed zun-beakers, curled lip round-bottom pen-basins, and narrow-mouthed long-necked weng-jars and jia-tripods. These artifacts are compared to similar remains from Zhengzhou Erligang and the obvious similarities between the two are pointed out. The Erlitou III and IV group of cultural elements exhibits a tendency to replace and assimilate that group of cultural elements originally presented in Erlitou Periods I and II, thus making clear that the differences and changes between the remains of II and III have epoch-making significance. A similar phenomenon can be observed to take place in the cultural features of the Central Plains with the change in dynasties between the Shang and Zhou and between the Zhou and Qin periods. It is proposed that the changes appearing between the Period II and Period III remains reflect a contemporary social change. Since the foundations of a large palace were discovered among the Period III cultural remains from the Yanshi Erlitou site, and since this site agrees with the location of Tang's capital Xi Bo, as recorded in surviving literature, Erlitou Periods III and IV may already belong to the Shang dynasty. On the basis of this analysis we have reason to believe that during the time of Cheng Tang the development of the culture of the Shang tribe reached a major turning point. At the time of its establishment the Shang kingdom appears on the Central Plains as an early slave state possessing a certain level of civilization. The discovery and identification of the cultural remains of the early Shang will be significant in the exploration of pre-Shang or Xia culture.