The mysteries of ancient Sanxingdui II

Archaeologists around the world were excited by the unearthling of large palatial remains in the 1980s, the remnants of the eastern, western and southern walls in 1984 and the discovery of two large sacrificial pits in 1986.

These discoveries proved that Sanxingdui contains the ruins of an ancient city that was political, economic and cultural centre of the ancient Shu kingdom.

A metropolis of its time, Sanxingdui boasted highly developed agrcultural and mining systems, and produced ceramics and sacrificial tools.

Before the excavation of Sanxingdui, it was believed that Sichuan has a history dating back 3000 years. Thanks to the excavation, it is now believed that civilized culture first appeared in Sichuan 5000 years ago.

Archaologists say that the Sanxingdui Ruins also dispel theories that the Yellow River was the sole starting point of Chinese civilization.

Of more than 10,000 relics unearthed in Sanxingdui, the nearly 1000 found in 1986 in the two sacrificial pits are considered the most valuable. In these two pits, bronze, gold, jade and marble artifacts, pottery, bone implements, elephant tusks and objects made of ivory were found. Archaeologists also discovered cowries and roughly 800 large bronze relics.

In addition to the many bronze and gold masks, the most valuable finds from the two pits included the bronze statue of the Shu king, a gold scepter and a bronze "spirit tree". With a length of 1.42 metres, a diametre of 2.3 cm and weight of 0.5kg, te design on the gold scepter features fish, birds, and human figures. The scepter is believed to be a symbol for a monarchic or theocratic order, or a combination of two. Consisting of a pedestral, a trunk and part of a dragon, the 3.95 metre-tall bronze tree is the oldest, tallest and largest of its kind in the world. Some thinks that it represents a legendary spirit tree, while many researchers believe that the tree was an all-embracing symbol.

The Sanxingdui covers 12 square kilometres, of which only four have been excavated. Chen Xiandan, deputy curater of the Sichuan Provicial Museum says: "It is likely that more exciting archaeological discoveries will be made"

The mysteries of ancient Sanxingdui I

One of the more impressive displays at the Sanxingdui Museum, in Guanghan of South-west China's Sichuan Province, is a bronze statue of a barefoot man with anklets and clenched hands.

The 2.62 metre high, 180 kg statue is throught to represent a king of the Shu Kingdom. She was the name of Sichuan in ancient times.

Dating back 3100 years, the king's statue is crowned with a sun motiff and coated with three layers of tight, short sleeved bronze "clothing", which is decorated with a dragon pattern and overlaid with a checked ribbon.

Huang Nengfu, a professor of art and design at Tsinghua University and an eminent researcher in Chinese clothing from different dynasties, considers the garment to be the countriy's oldest existing dragon robe. He also thinks that the pattern is the work of the famous Shu embriodery.

The robe has changed the traditional view that Shu Embroidery began in the mid-Qing Dynasty(1644-1911). Instead it shows Shu Embroidery appeared in the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century - c.11th century BC), according to Wang Yuqing, a Taiwan-based Chinese clothing historian.

The bronze statue of the Shu king is one of the four most important cultural relics to be found in the Sanxingdui Ruins in Guanghan, a city 40 km from Chengdu. Sanxingdui, means "three star mounds" in English, is so named because the ruins are located in a village where there are three mounds.

Since 1992, more than 10,000 relics, dating between 5000 and 3000 years ago, have been unearthed in the city's Sanxingdui Ruins. The excavations have yielded some of the most significant Chinese archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.

Archaeology digging is never always gold pots and treasures

Archaeology is not always a fruitful event in which you expect to dig up valuable artifacts in which one can deem as treasures in materialistic values. People spent efforts in understanding history of mankind. Sometimes, a dig can continue without hitting into anything with value. Archaeologists, however, continue with their best efforts in finding answers of the past, even how minimal one can get out from the different layers of earth. This video clip from youtube is a good example of it all.

You don't expect all digs to be successful. Sometimes, months can go by and still remain futile. But, Archaeologists do it piece by piece so that we can always have a bigger picture of our history.