The wider Sanxingdui site was identified in the 1920s. In 1986, construction workers in Guanghan uncovered two original sacrificial pits containing 13,000 artifacts: a giant 4.5ft-wide bronze mask, a roughly 9ft bronze statue, 1,200 bronze objects, 543 gold pieces and 565 jade items. The finds include bronze masks, statues and a sacrificial altar. The wider Sanxingdui sequence spans roughly 3,000–5,000 years ago; the original pits are associated with the late Shang period. Many objects were deliberately broken and burned before burial. The video argues that the Sichuan site reveals an advanced civilization predating the Shang Dynasty.
Sanxingdui: 1986 pits yielded 13,000 artifacts, including bronze masks
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Key facts
- The wider Sanxingdui site was identified in the 1920s; construction workers uncovered two sacrificial pits at Guanghan in 1986.
- The two original pits yielded 13,000 artifacts.
- The finds included 1,200 bronze objects, 543 gold artifacts and 565 jade items.
- Artifacts included bronze masks, statues and a sacrificial altar.
- One giant bronze mask measures 1.35 m (4.5 ft) wide and 0.74 m (2.5 ft) tall.
- The tallest bronze statue stands 2.62 m (8.6 ft), commonly described as 9 ft tall.
- The wider Sanxingdui sequence spans roughly 3,000–5,000 years ago; the two original pits are associated with the late Shang period.
- Many artifacts were deliberately broken and burned in sacrificial rites before burial.
- The video argues that the site represents an advanced civilization predating the Shang Dynasty.
Sources
The Mysterious Ancient City That's Rewriting Chinese Historysixthtone.com
The excavation site at Sanxingdui in 1986. As the researchers' resources were limited, the site was exposed to the open air, which made it ...
Sanxingdui relics provide glimpse of early Chinese civilizationchinadailyhk.com
In 1986, two pits full of bronze artifacts, notably bizarre-looking masks and human figurines, were accidentally found in Sanxingdui, drawing ...
Sacrificial pits of the Shang period at Sanxingdui in Guanghan ...persee.fr
One of the most remarkable of recent discoveries in Chinese archaeology was made in Sichuan province in July of 1986, when brickyard workers digging for clay at ...
Sanxingdui: Discovery of a Lost Bronze Age Civilizationinternational.ucla.edu
The ancient remains found at the Sanxingdui site show us that an ancient civilization once flourished in the Sichuan Basin from about 1700 BC to 1050 BC.
Sanxingdui - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
'Three Star Mound') is an archaeological site and a major Bronze Age culture in modern Guanghan, Sichuan, China. Largely discovered in 1986, following a ...
Newly discovered sacrificial pits at the Sanxingdui siteresearchgate.net
More than 17,000 artifacts were recovered from these pits, including bronze, jade, gold, ivory, elephant tusks, and silk remnants.
Archaeologists Discovered Six Sacrificial Pits Filled With ...popularmechanics.com
A farmer's accidental discovery in 1920s China led to the Sanxingdui archaeological site, revealing ancient sacrificial pits that showed a ...
The sacrificial record in burial pits of the late Shang Dynastynature.com
by Y Guo · 2023 · Cited by 14 — the Sanxingdui burial pits were not trash pits but sacrificial pits, and they were used for burying sacrifice after burning sacrifice.
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