Mysterious&unprecedented cultural relic in the world found in CN

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Deemed one of China's most famous archaeological discoveries in the world, the Sanxingdui Ruins site in Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Friday revealed newly unearthed artifacts: a 3,000-year-old bronze figure holding a zun, a wine vessel in ancient times, on top of the head, with the height of 1.15 meters. 

A total of 534 important cultural relics including ivory, bronze, gold, jade ware and nearly 2,000 pieces of broken cultural relics including another gold mask found in the eighth pit have been unearthed from six sacrificial pits of the Sanxingdui Ruins as of late May, and the bronze figure was discovered at the third pit. 

Officials revealed the latest achievements of the Sanxingdui archaeological excavation at a global promotion event in the Sanxingdui Museum on Friday.

The bronze figuring holding a zun vessel on top of the head can be seen as an "unprecedented" cultural relic not only in China but also in the world. UNESCO sent congratulations for the stunning new discovery through a video. 

The figure is composed of two parts, the upper part being a 55 centimeter-high bronze zun with a big mouth and welded with exquisite dragon-shaped decorations, and the lower part a 60 centimeter-tall bronze figure with a kneeling posture seemingly holding something in his hands. The bronze figure reflects the spiritual world of the ancient Shu civilization sacrifices, and is a national treasure-level cultural relic, CCTV reported on Friday. 

 "As the bronze-made relics are buried under the ivory relics, the next stage for us is to excavate the bronze ware. But it is still unknown how long that will take as it depends on the integrity of the relics," said Tang, adding that they could extract four to five relics per day if the relics are complete, while one fragile or incomplete bronze relic might take two to three days. 

"The latest achievement at the Sanxingdui Ruins site is we have confirmed that the silk relics were used in sacrificial offerings in the ancient dynasty," Tang said.

"Sanxingdui Ruins will become an international tourism site after the completion of the Sanxingdui Ruins Park, and we are preparing to apply it as a world cultural heritage site with the Jinsha site in Chengdu, Sichuan Province," said Luo Qiang, vice-governor of Sichuan Province. 

As of late May, more than 1,000 important cultural relics have been unearthed at the Sanxingdui Ruins, and a newly discovered golden mask is 

under restoration, officials said at a global promotion event on Friday.

First discovered in 1929, the Sanxingdui Ruins site, which dates back to the Bronze Age over 3,000 years ago, has been the source of one pleasant surprise after another following decades of digging and archaeological research. It is the largest and highest-ranking centralized site ever found in the Sichuan Basin, and is believed to date back to the Xia (c.2,070 BC-c.1,600 BC) and Shang (c.1,600 BC-1,046 BC) dynasties.

In March, Chinese archaeologists unearthed more than 500 relics in six ancient sacrificial pits, stunning archaeologists and history buffs in China and the rest of the world. The cultural relics included a mysterious bronze mask, a more than 2-meter-tall bronze statue, and a mask made of gold, giving modern people a peak into the ancient cultures that existed in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Source:globaltimes

Editor: Crystal H

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