Archaeologists Find 500 Ancient Objects, 3,000 Years Old Explaining the Origin of the Chinese Nation

KOMPAS.com – Archaeologists China has found more than 500 relics about 3,000 years old at the Sanxingdui ruins site in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

Invention it is believed to help explain the origins of past Chinese civilization.

The Sanxingdui Ruins was dubbed one invention greatest archeology in the world in the 20th century.

Quoted from Xinhua, Saturday (20/3/2021) the location of the discovery is located in the city of Guanghan, about 60 km from the provincial capital Chengdu.

Also read: Archaeologists Find 2,000 Year Old Roman Chariots in Pompeii

Major discoveries: Archaeologists have found six new sacrificial pits and unearthed over 500 items dating back about 3,000 years at the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins in SW China’s Sichuan, helping shed light on the cultural origins of the Chinese nation https://t.co/jodjWQWRqT pic.twitter.com/vaNMsk9Kta

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 20, 2021

Chinese archaeologists have found six new sacrificial pits and unearthed more than 500 items dating back about 3,000 years at the Sanxingdui Ruins in Sichuan Province. Let’s have a close look https://t.co/ta7Csq93Tk pic.twitter.com/iGSe0dnb2R

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 20, 2021

New discoveries at lengendary archaeological site. More than 500 items dating back about 3,000 years have been discovered at the Sanxingdui Ruins in Sichuan, China https://t.co/G41MeRJ7pK

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 20, 2021

The rest of the kingdom 4,800 years ago

It was found at the site where the 12 square km of ruins believed to be the remains of the Shu Kingdom, are about 4,800 years old and lasted for more than 2,000 years.

Reporting from Global TimesAmong the relics, there was a very beautiful piece of gold mask.

A shard of a gold mask found in one of the holes has surprised archaeologists by its size compared to previous archaeological finds.

It is about 23cm wide and 28cm high and weighs about 280 grams. Initial examinations by archaeologists indicated that the mask contained about 84 percent gold.

It was evaluated that the entire gold mask could weigh more than 500 grams, said Lei Yu, of the Sichuan Province Archaeological and Cultural Relics Research Institute.

He believed that if a complete gold mask could be found, it would be not only the largest and heaviest gold mask of the same period that had been found in China, but also the heaviest gold object from the same period.

Also read: 3,000 Year Old Coffins and Mummies Found in Ancient Egyptian Temples

Silk trail

Chinese archaeologists have made new major discoveries at the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins site in southwest China. Follow Xinhua correspondent to the excavation site to take a closer look. #GLOBALink pic.twitter.com/SniCBhnmCs

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 20, 2021

Excavations also found traces of rotting silk from the site.

This is the first time silk dating back more than 3,000 years has been discovered in the province.

Silk protein has been detected several times in soil sample tests, proving that silk was used in the Sanxingdui kingdom more than 3,000 years ago.

This site was originally discovered in the 1920’s by a farmer.

Also read: 2,000 Year Old Street Food Store Found in Pompeii

The big surprise came in 1986 when the two sacrificial pits were filled with more than 1,000 relics.

These include gold masks, sacred bronze trees, bronze utensils, jade and ivory utensils, discovered by local workers who were digging clay to turn them into bricks.

“Surprisingly, we have found some unheard of before,” Lei Yu was quoted as saying China.org.

“For example, some large, smooth bronze items have strange-looking dragon or cow designs,” said Lei again.

In another major discovery, silk residue and textile products were excavated for the first time at Sanxingdui.

“The ancient Shu kingdom was one of the important origins of silk in ancient China,” said Tang Fei, head of the excavation team and head of the institute.

Also read: 2,500 Year Old Tomb of a Lost Tribe Found in China

The origin of Chinese civilization

Gold masks, gold foil, bronze trees, ivories, carbonized rice and seeds of trees… New discoveries at the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins site in SW China will help shed light on the unified, diverse origin of the Chinese civilization. Read Xinhua Headlines: https://t.co/fMj1ZCfXuK pic.twitter.com/9HtB1cHYVv

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 20, 2021

In 1988, the Sanxingdui Ruins site came under state-level protection.

Penemuan Sanxingdui raises important questions about the thousands of years of origins of Chinese civilization

Prior to the 1980s, the dominant thinking among academics was that the cradle of Chinese civilization was in the Yellow River basin in northern China.

However, with the discovery of important sites in the Yangtze River valley, including Liangzhu, Shijiahe and Sanxingdui, new insights emerged.

The ancient Shu civilization represented by Sanxingdui has been considered an important part of the pluralistic origins of Chinese civilization.

Also read: Ancient site of 1,500 year old emperor cult excavated in northern China

Mysterious

Sanxingdui also remains a riddle to historians for leaving no written records.

Many of the artifacts unearthed in the ruins feature mysterious characters and graphics, such as bizarre-looking bronze images of humans and birds, and masks of some humans, some animals with large eyes and eyebrows.

In October 2019, a new large-scale excavation project in Sanxingdui was launched. To date, more than 50,000 artifacts have been excavated at Sanxingdui.

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