On October 29, at the "Chinese Culture Tianfu Forum - Sanxingdui Culture and Bronze Civilization Symposium" held in Guanghan, Lei Yu, the head of the Sanxingdui Site Workstation of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the director of the Sanxingdui Museum, delivered a keynote speech. New discoveries, new harvests and new understandings of archaeological excavations in Sanxingdui Sacrificial Area.

　　Lei Yu revealed that as of September, a total of 15,109 numbered cultural relics and 4,060 nearly complete artifacts had been unearthed from the six "sacrificial pits" newly discovered at the Sanxingdui site.

The results of archaeological excavations show that many artifacts unearthed in the sacrificial area of ​​the Sanxingdui site may be assembled across pits, or it may be confirmed that multiple sacrificial pits were formed in the same period.

Moreover, the discovery of more utensils similar in style to the prosperous period of the Jinsha site indicates a closer relationship between the two, indicating that the prosperous period of the main body of the Sanxingdui site may be longer than previously thought.

4 "sacrificial pits" or formed at the same time

　　In June, the Sanxingdui archaeological research team announced that they had successfully matched the bronze figure with the top of the snake body newly discovered in the "Sacrificial Pit" No. 8 and the remnants of the bronze bird-footed figure unearthed in the No. Years later, they finally reunited.

Experts have renamed this cultural relic as the statue of the goddess with a curved body and a bird's foot, and believe that this imaginative and precious cultural relic can be called the "peak work" of China's bronze civilization.

　　This is also the first time in 36 years since the excavation of Sanxingdui Pit No. 1 and No. 2 in 1986.

Not only that, but recently, in the archaeological excavation of Sanxingdui, some artifacts that can be successfully spliced ​​across the pit were also found.

Thunderstorm showed several photos at the scene: in the newly discovered pits 7 and 8, the archaeological team found some bronze sacred tree remnants; a bronze remnant found in pit 3 may be similar to that of No. 2. The bronze sacred tree unearthed in the pit is assembled; in pit 8, a knife-shaped ornament is very similar to the sacred tree component of pit 1 excavated in 1986.

　　"We found remnants similar to the sacred tree in pits 2, 3, 7, and 8, which are likely to be from the sacred tree in pit 2." Lei Yu said, according to the current research, combined with the successful combination of cross-pit artifacts , pits 2, 3, 7, and 8 were probably formed in the same period.

　　Lei Yu said that the appearance of the cross-pit pairing artifacts indicates that the pits involved were formed at the same time. What kind of ritual system or thinking of the ancient Shu people was reflected behind this?

These require future research to answer.

Closer relationship with Sands

　　At the meeting, Lei Yu showed the latest research findings: jade concave blade chisels unearthed in the sacrificial area of ​​Sanxingdui site, some warm-toned jade wares, as well as stone tigers with tails, stone kneeling men with middle-shaped, exquisite Items such as the golden belt ornaments and bronze full-body portraits with braided hair all indicate that Sanxingdui and Jinsha are more closely related.

　　Lei Yu said that in the past academic circles generally believed that the two capitals of the ancient Shu Kingdom, the Sanxingdui site and the Jinsha site, had a seamless relationship in terms of age.

However, according to the carbon-14 dating results, the lower age limit of Pit No. 4 has entered the Western Zhou Dynasty, and some artifacts unearthed have a relatively obvious Jinsha style.

　　The new discovery further confirms that Sanxingdui has a closer connection with the Jinsha site. "This requires more evidence to support, and solving this problem in the future will be of great value to the study of the history of ancient Shu." Lei Yu said.

Bronze casting technology and the Central Plains of the Shang Dynasty came from the same vein

　　The Sanxingdui bronze ware has opened the eyes of people more than 3,000 years later with its unprecedented shape.

Similarly, it also brings more questions about Sanxingdui.

Under the limited production conditions at the time, how were these "weird" bronzes cast?

Technological archaeology brings answers to people.

　　Lei Yu said that at present, the archaeological team has directly reflected the unique, flexible and diverse casting and connection technology of Sanxingdui bronzes through CT scanning, and has a deeper understanding of the production technology of Sanxingdui bronzes.

　　Archaeologists conducted CT scans of 6 bronze branch remnants and found that one sample used metal core bones, and the other 4 samples also used core bones.

"The core bone technology can effectively improve the strength of the inner core, thereby ensuring the success rate of core combination and pouring. The core bone was first discovered in the bronze wares of Sanxingdui, and it is also the most clear evidence of the use of core bone technology in the casting process of Shang Dynasty bronzes. ." Thunderstorm said.

　　In addition, the team also used the concept and method of pottery lipid residues to test and analyze the residues of the Sanxingdui bronze ware sample mud core, and carry out supplementary research on the Sanxingdui bronze ware production process.

The analysis results show that the Sanxingdui mud core samples have undergone the roasting process at a temperature above 300 °C, and the lipid extraction concentration in the mud core is extremely low.

　　At the same time, combined with the casting traces of the Sanxingdui Bronze God Tree and the X-CT analysis results, the possibility of using beeswax in moulding is basically ruled out.

Combined with the traces of conformity on bronze statues, sacred trees and other utensils, as well as the remaining mud cores and mud models, it all reflects the characteristics of the utensils cast using the block model method, which further confirms that the bronze casting technology of Sanxingdui and the Central Plains of the Shang Dynasty originated in the same region. A pulse.

　　West China Metropolis Daily