Sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui
Sacrificial pit at Sanxingdui
Sanxingdui: Archaeologists continue to make new discoveries in Sichuan China revealing unprecedented significance in the Bronze Age culture The first artifacts were discovered by chance in 1927 equivalent to 1950 Sanxingdui is considered a civilization site emphasizing the diverse origins of the ancient Shu Empire Farmers stumbled upon numerous jade and stone artifacts. After initial discoveries extensive excavations began in the 1980s with the most significant discovery in 1986 when two large pits containing thousands of bronze artifacts were discovered.
Sanxingdui listed as a World Heritage Site in 1986 was discovered by local workers Sacrificial pits containing thousands of broken ritually burned and carefully buried artifacts made of gold bronze jade and pottery were found The southern wall is 2,000 meters long and the western wall is 1,600 meters long The trapezoidal city is enclosed by an eastern wall covering an
area of 3.6 square kilometers UNESCO's preliminary list along with the Jinsha site and the Boat-Shaped Coffin Tombs indicates that this archaeological site is a prototype site for the Sanxingdui culture that produced these artifacts Archaeologists have identified this site within the ancient Su Empire indicating a unique civilization closely linked to the Sanxingdui culture
Golden Mask in Jinsha Site Museum, which is very similar to Sanxingdui masks in shape and style
Believed to be the relocated capital of the Su Empire similar discoveries have been made at Jinsha 40 kilometers away Most of the tombs were buried in four layers of earth The structures are rectangular wood-framed adobe buildings The largest hall the meeting hall measures approximately 200 square meters and 2,200 square feet A second sacrificial pit containing approximately 800 artifacts was also discovered at Sanxingdui a 4.6-square-mile site outside of Chengdu Bronze animal figurines traces of silk and more than 500 artifacts were discovered in the provincial capital of the six newly discovered pits in 2020 During excavations the site known as the "sacrificial pit" was discovered
