Sleeping for three thousand years, I woke up and shocked the world.
The Sanxingdui civilization became famous at home and abroad as soon as it was discovered. This civilization site, known as "one of the great archeological discoveries of mankind in the 20th century", has unearthed stone bi, stone axe, turquoise, pottery, bronze sacred tree, golden rod, and bronze. A large number of precious cultural relics, such as the large statue, the golden mask, and the large bronze mask, have also left many mysteries to be solved.
On the evening of January 2, 2022, the first archaeological space exploration cultural program "Chinese Archaeology Conference" walked into the mysterious Sanxingdui site, and the "archaeological promotion team" led by the "archaeological promoter" Moon sister explored the mysterious stories behind these cultural relics .
Wang Wei, member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, director of the History Department, and chairman of the Chinese Society of Archaeology, Chen Xiandan, former vice president and researcher of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and Lei Yu, director of the Sanxingdui Site Workstation of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and director of the Sanxingdui Museum , Ran Honglin, director of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Sanxingdui Archaeological Institute, jointly formed an "archaeological expert group" to explore the unsolved mystery of the ancient Shu civilization.
1
What is the bronze man holding?
Ivory, standing bird or nothing?
In 1986, a large bronze man was unearthed in Sanxingdui No. 2 Pit. It is the world's largest and highest artistic level among the ancient cultural relics of the same period in the world.
Where is this mysterious Dali man sacred?
He raised his right hand to his face, and his left hand was placed on his chest. The thumbs of his two hands formed a ring with the other four fingers. What exactly was he holding?
As soon as they walked into the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, many netizens would think about it.
So, what exactly is this huge bronze figure with a respect of 180 kilograms, shocking appearance and exquisite decoration, holding it with its exaggerated hand movements?
In the program, the "archaeological promotion team" led by Sister Moon found three clues: bronze bird, ivory, and jade Zhang.
Sister Moon is holding a heavy ivory replica in her hand, presuming that the curvature of the ivory is very close to the curvature of the hands of a bronze man.
There are also speculations that perhaps holding a jade zhang can show the honorable status of Da Liren.
If you carefully observe the gestures of the big man, you find that the hollow part of the hands is not in a straight line. Therefore, the curator of Thunderstorm tends to think that the bronze man is holding the ivory, because the upright object should not be inserted, and the big Liren's hands are round holes, similar to the shape of ivory.
However, Researcher Chen Xiandan tends to think that Darling does not hold anything in his hands, and the two thumbs of both hands are in opposition to each other, which may be a gesture of comparison when offering sacrifices.
He further added that the portraits of people holding objects were unearthed in Sanxingdui, and the gestures for holding objects were not like this.
Chairman Wang Wei was concerned that a figure holding a standing bird had been unearthed in Sanxingdui. He paid great attention to this information and will continue to explore the unsolved mystery of Darling.
2
How to restore the oversized golden mask?
Reference the copper mask while guessing and repairing it
In a new round of archaeological excavations in the sacrificial area of Sanxingdui, a gold mask that has received much attention was unearthed in Pit 5. Although it has only half a face, it has weighed 280 grams.
Experts speculate that the total weight of the complete golden mask may exceed 500 grams.
In Pit 5, the golden mask was severely squeezed and wrinkled, and a large amount of soil was attached to the surface.
After staged restoration, the outline of the golden mask gradually became clear.
In the hands of experts, the buried golden mask slowly unfolded, and the brilliant golden face was revealed little by little, with dazzling brilliance.
So how was this oversized golden mask repaired?
Experts don't know its true colors, and can only unfold it carefully. This is a process of slowly cleaning up, because some details have been deformed.
Experts calibrated after referring to copper masks and other similar artifacts. During the unfolding process, they speculated little by little about their complete form, and finally showed the appearance of a half golden mask.
The edge of the golden mask has an inverted shape. Director Ran Honglin speculates that the golden mask may be attached to figures made of bronze and other materials, and will not be used independently.
Such golden masks were also unearthed at the Jinsha site before.
With the advancement of archaeological excavations in Sanxingdui, the unearthed artifacts and the Jinsha site continue to "hit their faces", and the relationship between the two has led to many speculations.
Wang Wei speculates that Sanxingdui and Jinsha may be one and the other, and eventually replace each other. Jinsha has inherited and developed the Sanxingdui culture.
3
Why are bronzes mostly fragments?
The biggest mystery among the unsolved mysteries of Sanxingdui
The "bronze little standing man" that looks like Ultraman, the "lifa bronze figure head" with his hair combed into tiles, the "turned head and kneeling figure" that formed triplets...Many cute and adorable unearthed in Sanxingdui The star bronzes also appeared in the show one by one.
However, most of the bronzes in Sanxingdui were in fragments when they were unearthed.
For example, the bronze sacred tree in Pit No. 2 was dilapidated when it was first unearthed, with a total of 2,479 fragments, and it has no integrity at all.
After 10 years of unremitting efforts by Chinese archaeology and cultural relic restoration experts, the sacred tree has finally been renewed and regained its charm.
Why are these bronzes in fragments?
It is still an unsolved mystery. Some people speculated that it might be because it was too late to carry valuable objects during the war, so they were all smashed and buried; perhaps it was an offensive by a hostile group that destroyed the sacrificial objects to celebrate the victory.
Wang Wei said frankly that this is the biggest mystery among the unsolved mysteries of Sanxingdui, and archaeologists need to make judgments based on the actual conditions of the buried artifacts.
Whether it is the No. 1 and 2 pits or the 6 newly discovered pits, the pits are buried very regularly. Most of them are placed in layers of ivory, jade, and bronze. They look very planned. This shows that the bronzes are fragmented and war chaotic. , Escape or destruction of hostile groups and other factors are irrelevant.
Cover news reporter Zeng Jie