In the scorching heat, the archaeological excavation work at the Sanxingdui site is still in progress.
Following the successful extraction of Pit No. 8 from the pig-nosed dragon head column on August 4, archaeologists recently discovered a "little four-winged mythical beast" on the top of the cover of a bronze statue in Pit No. 8. The first winged beast discovered in Sanxingdui.
The object cleaned up by the archaeological team, tentatively named "hollowed out animal cover", is roughly located in the middle of Pit No. 8.
Recently, with the extraction and excavation of the copper pot pressing on the lid, the details of the lid have been clearly seen: a small bronze figure the size of a palm, standing upside down on the lid, with both hands struggling to support the edge of the lid.
The hollow pattern holds a platform on which stands a small mythical beast with four small wings on its shoulders and buttocks.
"On the back of the divine beast, we have seen something still on its back. Initially, it seems that it should be a model of a divine tree. The root part of the tree seems to have been exposed." Associate professor of the School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, responsible for Pit No. 8 Zhao Hao said.
According to observation, the head shape of the "little four-winged beast" is relatively rounded, similar to a tiger, and has a set of sharp teeth, which is different from the head shape and snout shape of other mythical beasts previously found at the Sanxingdui site.
In addition, there is also a bronze bird with hollow wings exposed in Pit No. 8. It is different from the bronze bird on the bronze god tree. It is the only bronze bird with hollow wings found in Sanxingdui so far.
(produced by Le Xiaomin)
Responsible editor: [Luo Pan]