Since October 9, 2020, sanxingdui's newly discovered six artifact pits have been excavated, more than a year has passed, as of now, Sanxingdui No. 3, 4 and No. 6 pits have completed field excavations and entered the laboratory clean-up stage. Pits 5, 7 and 8 are still being excavated in the field and new models are constantly being discovered.
In pit No. 8, a bronze dragon with a "tiger's head and tiger brain" was found, and this artifact has never been found in other sites of the Chinese Bronze Age.
△ "Tiger head tiger brain" dragon-shaped bronze statue
Zhao Hao: And the shape of this dragon is a bit strange, that is, its head is like a tiger's head, and this ear is also the round ear of this tiger. This is the part of the head of this artifact, which has a relatively long horn on its head, which is its relatively rounded ears, and the eyes are here. This one is more special, it is a knife-like thing in the mouth. Now it was equivalent to the side of this dragon facing us.
According to reports, this tiger head tiger brain dragon image, about 80 cm high. Such a large volume is still not an independent and complete bronze, where is the missing part? The flowing shape of the dragon image has become a key clue for experts to find answers. About half a meter away, there is a statue of the snake-shaped figure at the top of the Sanxingdui star cultural relics, with both hands propped on the square base, and the body also flipped upwards.
In addition, the dragon figure has no counterweight in front of the body, the body body is beyond the base, in order to ensure that the center of gravity is stable, it is very likely that it is connected through the dragon's hind feet and leans on other artifacts. The top-shaped statue of the snake is now 1.5 meters high, top-heavy, and also needs to lean on other objects to maintain stability.
Experts are currently speculating that between the image of the tiger-headed tiger brain dragon and the top-shaped statue of the snake, it may be a column-shaped component, and if the speculation is finally established, it will become another huge Sanxingdui bronze.
Bronze heads of Pit 8 are gathered
Burial along the edge of the pit is particularly special
In addition to the most peculiar new shape, Sanxingdui No. 8 pit also has a new "maximum". The reporter learned from the archaeological team that as of now, 42 bronze heads have been found in Pit 8, including the 2 pits that were first excavated on a large scale in 1986, and the number of bronze heads found in Pit 8 is the largest, and the burial method of these heads is also very unique.
Zhao Hao: It is concentrated on the edges of the pit, that is, on the four sides of the pit, these heads are particularly concentrated, especially in the four corners, and only scattered some heads are scattered to the center area of the pit. For the bronze man's head, it is a relatively small artifact in pit 8, and he may fill the edge with small things as a cauldron.
With the advancement of archaeological excavations in the sacrificial area of the Sanxingdui site, the landfill artifacts of the 6 pits have been relatively clear. Pit No. 4 is dominated by ivory, Pit 5 is dominated by goldware, Pit 6 is prominent in wood, Pit 7 is dominated by jade ware, bronze ware is dominated by small pieces, and Pit 3 and Pit 8 are dominated by large bronzes. More than 3,000 years ago, a grander historical scene on the land of Guanghan also began to gradually surface.
Pit 8 is densely packed with bronze heavy equipment
Field excavations or until next July
As excavations progressed, pit 8 was now known to have the largest number of ivory. According to the archaeological team, according to the existing burial logic, the large bronzes in Pit 8 are densely packed, and the more down the bronzes, the greater the difficulty of extraction, and the field excavations may last until next July.
Landfills were chosen three thousand years ago
Pit 7 is full of small artifacts
With 231 tusks extracted, the true appearance of Pit 7 has finally been revealed recently. The pit full of small utensils, giving people the first impression of "dazzling". According to archaeologists, pit No. 7 is dominated by jade tools, and most of them are jade zhang and jade chisels, but the material difference is large.
Bronzes are mainly small utensils, such as sacred tree stumps, eye shapers, copper bells, hanging racks, copper pendants, etc., and the number is very considerable. Compared with Pit No. 2, No. 3, No. 8, where a large number of large bronzes have been excavated, "small and beautiful" has become the way of existence of No. 7 pit.
Li Haichao: The number of copper bells is particularly large, and now it is possible to find more than a dozen pieces of twenty pieces. Although the No. 7 pit utensils are generally small, but in fact, there are still more new types, for example, we found that there are some triangles, like a small hat, like a small checkers, and now I don't know what kind of function some small bronzes.
Sanxingdui's "World Network"
Outreach studies have been initiated
With the advancement of the excavation of 6 new artifact pits in Sanxingdui, archaeologists have begun to focus their attention on the ancient city of Sanxingdui outside the artifact pit, as well as jumping out of Sanxingdui to study the "world network" of Sanxingdui in The Bronze Age of China, and explore the mysteries of Sanxingdui from the macro perspective of cultural exchange.
In order to better understand why Sanxingdui is special, archaeologists have opened a large-scale project of Sanxingdui research to restore the "world network" of Sanxingdui based on the perspective of resources. According to reports, scholars have done relevant research on Sanxingdui bronzes before, mainly analyzing the main elements, trace elements and isotopes of bronze, etc., and exploring the mystery of Sanxingdui bronze production areas by comparing with the data of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and other sites in the same period. The new research will further expand the scope and pay more attention to the resources, technology and cultural interaction between Sanxingdui and several major cultural circles such as Central and Western Asia, South Asia, the Central Plains, and the Yangtze River Basin.
Source: CCTV News