In our daily life, crystal clear glasses can be said to be commonplace, but in the 1990s unearthed a cultural relics, amazing to all the world, it is the Warring States period crystal cup, but also the hangzhou museum of the town museum treasure, in the world only one, the world's lone treasure belongs to the rare top national treasure treasures.
01 The origin of the unique treasure
In the early 1990s, migrant workers in Shitang Village, Banshan Town, Hangzhou, inadvertently dug up the ancient pottery kiln collection in the process of taking soil on a small hillside at the brick and tile factory, and after the news spread, it was paid attention to by the Hangzhou Cultural Relics Department, and relevant archaeologists believe that a large tomb must be buried in it. After receiving the news, archaeologists stopped here and began to carry out rescue excavations.
Kung Fu pays off, sure enough, there is a "Warring States Tomb No. 1" hidden here, because it is well hidden, so this ancient tomb has not been stolen and excavated, in the process of excavation, there are a total of 34 funerary items unearthed, mainly agate and jade tiger.
According to the scale of the tomb and the funerary items, archaeologists believe that the identity of the owner of this ancient tomb is not simple, it is impossible to be ordinary people, and it is very likely that it is a local high-ranking official in Hangzhou.
After an in-depth analysis of these funerary items, archaeologists found that these funerary items have a lot of Chu elements, so according to the speculative chronology, this ancient tomb is about 250 BC.
When archaeologists dug further, they found a crystal clear thing buried in the dirt, emitting a shining light, and after careful cleaning, archaeologists found that it was a "glass".
02 Amber crystal cup determined as "Warring States Period"
When I first saw this crystal cup, all the archaeologists at the scene were stunned, because it was very similar to the modern crystal cup, which did not conform to the traditional concept of cultural relics at all, and seemed to be full of many modern elements.
In careful observation, archaeologists found that this crystal cup is made of high-quality crystal carving, the whole cup body is a light amber color, the crystal cup height is 15.4cm, the caliber is 7.8cm, the bottom diameter is 5.4cm, the cup body is plain and simple, and there are cotton flocculent natural crystals at the bottom of the cup.
Archaeologists believe that the process of making this crystal cup at that time should be complex, because the crystal is hard, it is extremely easy to break during the grinding process, and in the ancient times when the technology was backward, the crystal could be polished intact, which showed that the technology used at that time was extraordinary. This also makes modern people have to lament the wisdom of the ancients.
To date the crystal cup, archaeologists had to take it to the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. After identification, it turned out that this was a crystal cup made of a whole piece of natural crystal, dating from the Warring States period. The technology used at that time was made by borrowing the processing method of jade.
In the Warring States period, the level of processing and production of jade has been significantly improved, and after the crystal cups have been discovered, they have deeply attracted the Warring States people, they began to take the initiative to dig mining, make crystal cups and other utensils, at that time only people with prominent status can use crystal cups and other utensils.
It can be seen that this visual effect is light and stable, and the dazzling Warring States Period crystal cup is not "crossing", let alone a modern work of art.
Since the crystal cup is an object of the Warring States period, why are there other cultural relics of the ancient tomb with other Chu elements?
In this regard, archaeologists believe that during the Warring States period, most of Hangzhou was within the scope of the Yue State, and in addition to the artifacts with Chu elements in the tomb, there were many artifacts with Yue cultural colors, and the crystal cup of the Warring States period may have been brought from the Chu State and would appear in the funerary items.
Overall, from the selection of materials to the production and polishing, it can be said that the crystal cup of this Warring States period is a rare work, along with the stepmother Peng DaFangding, Zeng Houyi chimes, etc., and is a national treasure of the world's only product.
Nowadays, the only unique product in this world - the crystal cup is still displayed in the display cabinet of the Hangzhou Museum, we can only go to visit to personally feel the creativity of ancient craftsmen, it can be said that this rare work, amazing the world!