CCTV news: Of the 20 projects shortlisted for the final evaluation of the top ten national archaeologies in 2021, the most well-known in society is the archaeological project of the Sanxingdui site sacrifice area, and some important discoveries were disclosed in the final evaluation of the top ten archaeology in the country.
The Sanxingdui site is located in the western suburbs of Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, with a total area of about 12 square kilometers. Since the start of excavations in March 2020, the total excavation area has reached 1202 square meters, in addition to the discovery of 6 "sacrifice pits", 78 ash pits, 55 ash ditches, 341 pillar holes, 4 housing sites, and 2 tombs have been found, and the distribution range and internal layout of the sacrifice area of the Sanxingdui site have been preliminarily clarified.
According to reports, a total of 8 rectangular "sacrifice pits" have been found in the sacrificial area, including no. 1 and no. 2 pits excavated in 1986. In addition, as archaeological excavations progressed, remains related to the ritual activities such as two rectangular trenches and one large building were found in the sacrificial area. The newly disclosed information shows that combined with stratigraphic relationships, excavated artifacts and carbon-14 dating results, experts have now preliminarily judged that the newly discovered no. 3, No. 4, No. 7 and No. 8 pits are about 3200 to 3000 years old, roughly equivalent to the fourth phase of the late Shang Yin Ruins, while the ages of no. 5 and No. 6 pits are relatively late.
Up to now, more than 12,000 cultural relics have been excavated from the 6 newly discovered "sacrifice pits", of which more than 2,300 are nearly complete artifacts, and the shape and ornamentation of some cultural relics have never been seen before, further enriching the cultural connotation of the Sanxingdui site. Experts said that a number of new artifacts excavated this time, such as the bronze statue of the kneeling figure and the bronze round mouth Fang Zun, as well as the Jade Chun, have both the elements of the ancient Shu civilization, the Central Plains civilization and the culture of other regions in The country, further consolidating the basic understanding that the ancient Shu civilization is an important part of Chinese civilization.
Source: CCTV