Six sacrificial pits were newly discovered, and more than 500 important cultural relics were unearthed

Mysterious Sanxingdui Archaeology Resolve the Mystery

  Our reporter Yang Xuemei, Wang Mingfeng, Song Haoxin

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  Eyes with painted bronze heads, gorgeous golden masks, exquisite tooth carvings, bronze god trees... Important archaeological discoveries and research results from the Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan were released recently.

  The Sanxingdui site, which was rescued in 1986, has realized a new attempt of scientific archaeology, multi-team cooperation, and multidisciplinary integration, which has enriched people's understanding of the Sanxingdui site and its culture.

  On the 20th, at the "Archaeological China" major project progress meeting held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, important archaeological discoveries and research results of the Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan were announced.

Can the new archaeological discoveries at Sanxingdui site solve some long-standing unresolved problems, and what new mysteries have been raised?

A clearer understanding of the spatial pattern of the sacrificial area

  In 1986, the rescue excavation of the No. 1 and No. 2 pits of the Sanxingdui site was completed. Based on the principle of “protection first, rescue first, rational use, and strengthened management”, archaeologists quickly implemented the maximum protection of the site. .

Since then, archaeologists have been studying the data of the two pits, and related work such as restoration of cultural relics and preparation for the establishment of a museum is also being carried out simultaneously.

In addition to the sacrificial pits, the city sites and tombs excavated at the Sanxingdui site need to be further studied.

To this end, the “Archaeological China” major project of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the “Ancient Shu Civilization Protection and Inheritance Project” organized and implemented by Sichuan Province restarted the comprehensive exploration and key excavation of the Sanxingdui site.

  According to reports, from November 2019 to May 2020, 6 "sacrifice pits" were newly discovered at the Sanxingdui site, and more than 500 important cultural relics such as golden mask fragments, bird-shaped gold ornaments, and exquisite tooth carving fragments have been unearthed.

Compared with the No. 1 and No. 2 pits excavated in 1986, the shape and direction of the 6 "sacrifice pits" are similar, and the unearthed cultural relics are similar.

  According to Lei Yu, a researcher at the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the head of the Sanxingdui Site Workstation, the six newly discovered artifact pits and the two excavated in 1986 are jointly distributed in the east of the Sanxingdui platform between the Sanxingdui city wall and the southern city wall. There are also small circular pits, rectangular grooves and large grooved buildings related to sacrificial activities.

This means that the opinions formed in the past based on the unearthed cultural relics of the two pits and related archaeology have to accept new tests and challenges.

  Xu Jian, a professor of Shanghai University who participated in the excavation of Pit 3, introduced that a large number of bronze, gold, and jade tools that had never been seen before were unearthed in Pits 1 and 2, which rewritten people’s understanding of the pattern and characteristics of China’s early civilization. The artifact pit also left many unsolved mysteries.

The richness of artifacts in the No. 3 pit excavated this time is no less than that of the No. 2 pit, but it is unique in its type, shape and combination, which shows that the artifact pit is not the result of a special event. The ritual activities of Sanxingdui are long-lasting and diverse. .

  Sun Hua, a professor at Peking University, believes that compared with the excavation more than 30 years ago, the excavation is no longer just about cultural relics in a static sense. Have a clear understanding of the spatial pattern.

Deepen the understanding of the relationship between Chengdu Plain and its surrounding culture

  Song Xinchao, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, believes that this new discovery will enrich and deepen our understanding of Sanxingdui culture, help deepen our understanding of the cultural relationship between the Chengdu Plain and its surrounding areas, and help solve the academic community’s understanding of Sanxingdui culture and Key issues such as the nature of the "sacrifice pit", cultural connotation, and chronological research.

  During the excavation, bronze heads with painted eyes, a huge bronze mask, a sitting figure of the top statue, and a bronze sacred tree were unearthed in Pit 3, which is particularly eye-catching.

More than a hundred ivory were unearthed this time, some of which were burned, and most were buried with bronze and jade.

  According to Zhou Yang, a researcher at the China National Silk Museum, the archaeological team found silk relics on the ashes of Pit 4 and the surface of bronzes in Pit 3. "The most advanced silk was used for sacrifices. This time it was found in Sanxingdui's Sacrifice Pit. Silk means that silk was not used to make everyday clothes at the beginning, but was used for grand occasions. The unearthed bronze god tree has mulberry trees, the silkworm patterns can be seen on the bronze weapons, and some bronze pots also have mulberry picking pictures. Supported the rationality of the discovery of silk in Sanxingdui."

  Shi Jinsong, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The sacrificial area of ​​a site does not exist in isolation. Where are the workshops that produce these artifacts, whether the artifacts are normally used before being buried, and how the resources and technology are mastered... The discovered artifact pit makes it possible for us to rethink the relevant research of the entire area."

  Professor Zhang Changping of Wuhan University is a bronze research expert. He believes: “The cultural relics unearthed at the Sanxingdui site reflect three levels of culture. One is the local characteristics represented by the bronze mask and the bronze sacred tree; The influence of Xia and Shang culture represented by Zhang et al.; third, Sanxingdui made self-innovation while absorbing the bronze technology of the Central Plains. For example, the shape of the vessel is the Zun and Lei of the Central Plains, but the style decoration is obviously closely related to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Culturally Recognition can break through the limitation of distance, and the route of cultural dissemination and communication needs further research."

  Over the years, archaeologists have been exploring the Sanxingdui city site and tombs, and found the Longan Bridge Culture and Baodun Culture earlier than the Sanxingdui Culture, and also found the Twelve Bridge Culture later than Sanxingdui, and established this area from scratch. The cultural sequence from the late Stone Age to the long Bronze Age.

Establish archaeological cabins and multidisciplinary cooperation to realize new archeological attempts

  The excavation of exquisite cultural relics cannot be separated from the first site of archaeology.

The first site of archaeological discoveries is comprehensively recorded, and each type of sample is collected scientifically to avoid interference or contamination of the first site as much as possible, which determines the academic value of archaeology and the scientific nature of archaeological results.

This is also the significance of the establishment of the archaeological cabin in this archaeological excavation.

  Lei Yu introduced that compared with 1986, this archeology is a new attempt to move advanced laboratories to the field archaeological site, and it has a milestone significance.

An archaeological greenhouse with constant temperature and humidity, a multifunctional archaeological operating system, a cultural relic emergency protection platform, an expert consultation room that can transmit data remotely, a full-process archeological work recording system, a multifunctional archaeological operating system, a work video recording system...Technical guarantees make excavation and It is possible to protect synchronization, multi-disciplinary integration, and multi-team cooperation.

  An emergency protection room for organic cultural relics has been set up in the archaeological cabin, equipped with low-temperature moisturizing cabinets, low-temperature biological sampling boxes and other equipment, which can carry out emergency protection of unearthed hornbone teeth, textiles, and lacquered woodware.

The ivory samples collected in Pit 5 are subject to record testing and scanning, and the beautiful back-shaped patterns can be seen clearly under a magnifying glass.

An emergency protection room for inorganic cultural relics has also been set up, equipped with ion chromatography and overall extraction equipment, which can provide emergency protection for unearthed gold, bronze, jade and pottery.

  From the 1980s to the present, archaeologists have successively discovered important relics such as the ancient city of Sanxingdui, the small city of Moon Bay, the small city of Cangbaobao, the base site of large-scale buildings on Qingguan Mountain, and the cemetery of Rensheng Village, and they have continuously clarified the distribution scope and structural layout of the Sanxingdui site.

Song Xinchao said: "The major project of'Archaeological China' has always emphasized the concentration of superior forces to tackle major issues. For more than 30 years, the academic community has never stopped studying the Sanxingdui culture. It has also raised many questions and held many discussions. Today, we are concerned about the Chengdu Plain. History is better understood than in the past, academic preparations and technical preparations are sufficient, multidisciplinary cooperation can be organized, and we also welcome foreign archaeologists to join us to jointly study the challenging Sanxingdui culture that will bring us surprises at any time."