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SMART NEWS

Cool Finds


TROVE OF 13,000 ARTIFACTS SHEDS LIGHT ON ENIGMATIC CHINESE CIVILIZATION

The Bronze Age Sanxingdui culture is known for its intricate masks and artworks

Meilan Solly

Associate Editor, History

June 14, 2022

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bronze sacrificial altar unearthed at the Sanxingdui archaeological site Photo
by Wang Xi / Xinhua via Getty Images


For hundreds of years, the Sanxingdui culture flourished in what is now
southwest China, producing ornate bronze masks and precious wares before
vanishing abruptly around 1100 or 1200 B.C.E.

Believed to be part of the broader Shu state, the civilization continues to
fascinate more than 3,000 years after its demise. As state-run news agency
Xinhua reports, a trove of 13,000 artifacts unearthed at the Sanxingdui Ruins
site over the past two years is poised to offer new insights on the mysterious
Bronze Age culture. Found in six sacrificial pits, according to China Daily’s
Wang Kaihao, the cache includes 1,238 bronze wares, 543 gold artifacts and 565
jade objects.



Among the highlights of the discovery is a bronze box with a tortoise-shaped
lid, dragonhead handles and bronze ribbons. A green jade is tucked inside the
container, which appears to have once been wrapped in silk.

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that the vessel is one of its kind,
given its distinctive shape, fine craftsmanship and ingenious design,” Li
Haichao, an archaeologist at Sichuan University, tells Xinhua. “Although we do
not know what this vessel was used for, we can assume that ancient people
treasured it.”

Bronze head with gold mask excavated at the Sanxingdui archaeological site Photo
by Shen Bohan / Xinhua via Getty Images

Other key finds include a bronze sacrificial altar, a giant bronze mask, and a
bronze statue with a human head and a snake’s body. Per the Global Times’ Ji
Yuqiao, the hybrid figure rests its hands on a lei drinking vessel; another type
of vessel known as a zun is painted on the statue’s head in vermillion hues.

The sculpture’s blend of artistic styles reflects the “early exchange and
integration of Chinese civilization,” says Ran Honglin, a researcher at the
Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, to
Xinhua. Its human and snake components are typical of the Shu state, while the
lei is more commonly associated with the pre-Western Zhou Dynasty. The zun is
historically found in the Zhongyuan region.



“These three factors are now blended into one artifact, which demonstrates that
Sanxingdui is an important part of Chinese civilization,” Ran adds.

According to an official government FAQ, a farmer stumbled onto the Sanxingdui
Ruins in 1929. The first archaeological excavation at the site took place in
1934, but work soon drew to a halt amid the political tumult of the mid-20th
century.

It was only in 1986 that scholars recognized the significance of the ruins: As
Live Science’s Tia Ghose wrote in 2014, archaeologists found two pits filled
with 1,000 artifacts, including eight-foot-tall bronze sculptures whose artistry
points to an “impressive technical ability that was present nowhere else in the
world at the time.” Because the objects were broken or burned before burial,
experts concluded that they’d been placed in the pits as part of a sacrificial
ritual.

A large bronze head with protruding eyes believed to be a depiction of Cancong,
the semi-legendary first king of Shu Tyg 28 via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA
4.0

In addition to the towering figurines, excavators discovered oversized bronze
masks with exaggerated facial features. Measuring around three feet wide, the
masks share several key characteristics, per the Saxingdui Museum: “knife-shaped
eyebrows, protruding eyes in [a] triangle shape, big stretching ears, snub nose
and fine mouth.” Experts posit that the masks may have memorialized their
creators’ ancestors or gods.

No written records or human remains associated with the Sanxingdui survive
today, reports Kathleen Magramo for CNN. But scholars generally agree that the
culture was part of the kingdom of Shu, which thrived on the Chengdu Plain until
its defeat by the state of Qin in 316 B.C.E. The exact reasons for the
Sanxingdui’s decline are unknown, but theories abound, with earthquakes, war and
flooding all proposed as possible explanations. Based on the discovery of
similar artifacts at Jinsha, about 30 miles away from the Sanxingdui Ruins, some
archaeologists argue that the Sanxingdui moved to Jinsha and rebuilt their
community there.



Between 2020 and 2022, a renewed slate of excavations uncovered six additional
pits at the Sanxingdui site. Last year, archaeologists revealed fragments of a
gold mask, traces of silk, bronzeware adorned with depictions of animals, ivory
carvings and other artifacts.

The current round of excavations is slated to conclude in October. As Ran tells
the Global Times, “The number of unearthed cultural relics will keep increasing
with further work.”



Meilan Solly | | READ MORE

Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history.

Ancient Civilizations Archaeology Art Art History Asian History China Cool Finds
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