Archaeology: Sanxingdui excavations question the origins of Chinese civilization
A sign announcing the Sanxingdui archaeological site in the Sichuan region in 2005 (Illustrative image).
© LIU JIN/AFP
Text by: Stéphane Lagarde Follow
3 mins
It is one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 21st century.
New bronzes have been found in the ruins of Sanxingdui in southwest China.
Archaeologists are on the trail of a previously unknown dynasty.
An ancient kingdom, whose existence would support the thesis of a Chinese civilization with multiple origins.
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From our correspondent in Beijing and
Louise May
from the RFI office in Beijing
Of the 13,000 objects recently found at Sanxingdui, the most talked about is a
twisted bronze
turtle shell grid discovered in sacrificial pit number 7. Why the turtle?
Because we had never seen this before.
And it is fascinating!
“
Revolutionary
” even, Li Haichao tells us from his university in Sichuan in the south-west of the country.
Professor Li is co-responsible for the excavation site and in particular for the research on tomb number 7 (read the full interview in the box).
An ancient forgotten kingdom
“
In the past, we found human figures on the site in particular: bronze heads, large elongated faces and numerous vases.
But this is all part of what we already knew about that time.
This is not the case with the turtle and the process to make it.
»
This turtle or sacrificial vessel with four dragon-headed handles was probably covered in silk at the time of the offering, according to the New China agency.
A quarter of the objects found at the Sanxingdui site are intact and would lead to the trail of the ancient kingdom of the Shu emperors, 4,500 years ago, of which there are no written records.
Only these man-made objects, more than 3,000 years ago, would testify to the existence of this unknown dynasty which produced figures of warriors with large ears, prominent noses and large enigmatic eyes, the most noticed wears a gold mask.
Other statues represent a snake with a human head, or a dragon with a pig's nose.
"The carvings are very intricate and imaginative, representing a mystical world imagined by people at that time," said
Zhao Hao, a professor at Peking University and head of the excavation of Sanxingdui Tomb Number 8, quoted by the
South China Morning Post
.
Yellow River Civilization
According to some experts, “
The sculptural style developed by Sanxingdui craftsmen and their technical expertise stand out from other Chinese art forms of the same period, especially those of the Shang Dynasty
(1570-1045 BCE).
However, some artifacts have their roots in objects from the Chinese Neolithic era, which contradicts the idea that Chinese civilization has the Yellow River as its sole origin,”
notes
the China Wind
.
A discovery that opens up the field of the origins of Chinese civilization.
The history of China would no longer be unique, but multiple.
"
It reminds us that knowledge must be constantly updated
,
"
says
the Guancha newspaper
, which is concerned about the lack of archaeologists in a China where cities have grown faster than forests, leading to the multiplication of excavation sites over the past three decades.
►Also read: The Lingjing bird, the oldest Chinese work of art
RFI
: What is the most remarkable discovery in these more than 13,000 new artifacts discovered at Sanxingdui?
Li Haichuo
:
One of the most interesting discoveries today is the transenne representing the back of a turtle in pit number 7. It is an important artifact, because it has never been found so far. similar to Sanxingdui, nor even in the whole history of the Chinese Bronze Age.
It is a composite object of bronze and jade, with a bronze grid on the outside and a symmetrical structure at the top and bottom, forming a box-like space.
The box itself contains a very well-preserved large piece of jade, which again is a first.
This object challenges our knowledge and leads us to rewrite this era.
As for the exact function of the trunk?
For now, it's still a mystery.
What do these objects tell us?
These artefacts, these relics tell us about an ancient fortified city, which extends over more than 10 km².
The discovery dates back to 1929. A farmer was digging a trench.
He came across a pile of jade, copper, and stone vessels.
The excavations were interrupted for very long years before resuming in the 1980s following the discovery of two artificial pits.
Since then, more than 50,000 objects have been discovered in Sanxingdui: sculptures of large bronze faces, there are also many bronze vessels, cups and jars for wine.
But to come back to the turtle, if we find a human figure in bronze, that's fine, but it's already part of our references.
While the shape and function of the turtle shell transenne requires upgrading our knowledge once again.
The mysterious box has handles in the shape of a dragon's head...
Yes, and it is not easy to say exactly what the attributes of the dragon are.
It is only in more recent history that the connection between the dragon and the emperor is made, in the minds of court craftsmen in China.
One might imagine the Turtle to be some sort of turtle-backed grid-like vessel, which we now assume had four dragon heads, but only two of which are preserved.
And we don't know exactly what role this dragon played in the minds of the people of Sanxingdui.
But we can see that many objects are decorated with large and small dragon representations, such as the tiger-headed statue in tomb number 8.
How old are these artifacts?
The Sanxingdui sacrificial pits are currently dated to the late Shang dynasty (1200-1046 BCE) which developed from the central plains of China along the Yellow River.
We speak for the moment of 'Sanxingdui culture', but there is no clear clue as to whether the people of Sanxingdui constituted a community in their own right, see a nation and what kind of relations they had with the Chinese of the central plains.
But there is still a lot to discover.
Exploration of the site in several phases will continue at least until the end of this year.
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