Source: State Administration of Cultural Heritage
In 2021, under the framework of the major project of "Archaeology China", the archaeology of the Sanxingdui site sacrifice area achieved important results. On September 9th, the "Archaeology China" major project - Sanxingdui Site Archaeological Excavation Phased Achievements Press Briefing Was Held at the Sanxingdui Museum, and the Sanxingdui Archaeological Site of the Central Radio and Television Corporation was broadcast live at the same time, announcing to the public the major archaeological achievements of the No. 3 pit and No. 4 pit in the Sanxingdui Site Sacrifice Area.
Sanxingdui once again shows the world an infinitely wonderful ancient Shu society.
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K4 fabric extraction
It is reported that in order to promote the "ancient Shu civilization protection and inheritance project", the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology adheres to the working concept of "subject preset, protection synchronization, multi-disciplinary integration, and multi-team cooperation", and 39 scientific research institutions, universities and science and technology companies in the United Nations jointly carry out the archaeological excavation of the six newly discovered "sacrifice pits".
An unprecedented bronze figure was found
The excavation of Pit No. 3 (hereinafter referred to as K3), the main achievement of Pit No. 3, is responsible for Shanghai University and the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, which has been excavated since January 9, 2021 and has now entered the final stage.
K3 unearthed large copper mask cleaning test
K3 large copper mask extract Yu Jia photo
K3 is located in the middle of the area where the 8 "sacrificial pits" are located, with an opening area of about 14 square meters. Presumably, shortly after K3 was buried, the area was abandoned. A total of 729 artifact fragments and specimens of various types were unearthed from K3. A total of 478 pieces (groups) of relatively complete relics and 141 pieces of fragments. Among them, the more complete artifacts include 293 bronzes, 45 jades, 100 ivory, 7 gold, 2 bone carvings, 2 stone tools, 26 sea shells (groups) and 3 unknown materials.
K3 unearthed a bronze human head
K3 unearthed with a pointed hat standing portrait (positive)
K3 excavated bronze surface with silk fabrics
The bronze-topped figure of a kneeling figure unearthed from K3 is composed of a combination of the upper part of the bronze statue and the lower part of the figure. Bronze altars, sacred tree pattern jade and other utensils, with unique themes and rich details, are unprecedented, and are the material embodiment of the spiritual world of the ancient Shu people, providing important materials for relevant research.
The K3 years should be very close to pit two (K2). K3 is highly similar to K2 in terms of shape, burial, and excavated relics. K3 and K2 should be very close, roughly determined to be the late Shang period (about the second period of Yin Ruins).
According to reports, K3 excavation work has entered the final stage, the next step in addition to completing the extraction of the remaining buried artifacts and clarifying the relationship between the ash accumulation in the north and other artifacts, but also to carry out fine excavation of the pit bottom and pit wall, to provide a basis for the restoration of the K3 formation process, and to fully open the excavation materials and report, catalogue compilation work.
K3 excavated artifacts local 1 Yu Jia photo
K3 excavated artifacts part 2 Yu Jia photo
The excavation of No. 4 Pit No. 4 (hereinafter referred to as K4), the main achievement of Pit No. 4, was undertaken by the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, which began excavations on October 9, 2020 and ended on August 18, 2021.
K4 is located in the northeast of the "Sacrificial Pit" group, with an area of about 8.1 square meters. Similar to K3, it is speculated that K4 was abandoned shortly after it was buried. At present, all K4 relics have been extracted, and a total of 86 complete artifacts and 1073 fragments have been excavated. The complete vessels include 9 pieces of jade, including 2 pieces of Zhen, 1 piece of Zhen, 4 pieces of chiseling, 1 piece of Bi, and 1 piece of Gong, all from buried accumulation; 21 pieces of bronze; 47 pieces of ivory; and 2 pieces of pottery, all excavated from the ash layer, and all of them are pointed bottom cups.
K4 copper head kneeling portrait
K4 unearthed 3 pieces of copper head kneeling portrait, the size and shape are the same, it seems to belong to the same bronze. The portrait is in a kneeling posture, the body is slightly tilted to the left front, the head is slightly chin and twisted to the right side of the body, the hands are raised in a semi-"closed" shape in the left front of the body, the knees are on the ground, the front feet of the feet are on the ground, and the back feet are raised. The center of gravity of the figure's body is stuck between the left shoulder and the palms of both hands, showing a strong sense of weight. These three portraits are all new archaeological discoveries of Sanxingdui in terms of shape and ornamentation, and provide materials for the study of Sanxingdui's bronze casting technology and art, religious beliefs and social systems, and cultural exchanges with surrounding areas.
As for the chronology of K4, its carbon 14th research was jointly carried out by the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the Joint Laboratory of Archaeological Chronology of the School of Archaeology and Literature of Peking University. At present, a total of 6 carbon 14th century data have been obtained, and the chronological distribution range has been preliminarily determined. The age of Sanxingdui No. 4 pit is most likely within the range of 3148-2966 years ago, which belongs to the late Shang Dynasty.
As the earliest field archaeological unit to end excavations at this stage, in the future, the No. 1 work module where K4 is located will be used for the experimental platform for the early protection and research of cultural relics excavated in the humid environment of the south, and prepare for the display of later achievements and the comparative study of on-site soil sites. In addition, after entering the indoor data collation stage, excavation reports and multidisciplinary research reports will be published one after another.
Protecting while excavating Gradually, the research is gradually deepening
The multidisciplinary research and cultural relics protection of the Sanxingdui site sacrifice area have been steadily carried out, and phased results have been achieved so far. K3 collected 721 samples, including 363 samples, including 146 organic residue analysis, 57 composition testing, 28 dating, 9 corrosion analysis, 89 microorganisms, 16 isotopes, and 18 XRF/Raman. K4 collected 832 samples, of which 715 were tested, including 209 organic residue analysis, 50 component tests, 35 carbon 14 dating, 212 soil susceptibility, 126 microorganisms, 21 identifying ingredients, and 17 XRF/Raman.
Silk found in K4 ashes
Arranged in an orderly manner into a wisp of state, visible to the naked eye... Archaeologists found the accumulation of twine next to a bronze vessel in the K4 ash layer, and then the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, together with the China Silk Museum and other units, conducted microscopic observation and detection and analysis of the textiles unearthed from K4. However, there is no warp and weft organization structure, only wisps are arranged into relatively orderly lines. Subsequently, when further microscopic observations of other soil samples, textiles with obvious warp and weft microstructures were finally found. "We combined the results of the enzyme-linked immunoassay to determine that it was a silk residue of plain tissue structure. This is the first time in a new round of archaeological excavations of sacrificial pits that silk residues have been found. Archaeologists told reporters.
Textiles preserved in the ashes of K4
In addition to textile archaeology, the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Shanghai University conducted phytosilicate sample analysis of K4 ash accumulation. According to the observation, analysis and identification of 32 samples of K4 ash accumulation, the phytosilicate content did not show regular changes at different depths in the samples of continuous profiles, and the plant remains contained in the ash layer were mainly subfamily bamboo, and a small number of reeds, thrush subfamily, sedge family, palm family and some hardwoods that were difficult to identify to families, genera and species were also found.
Northwest University has extracted a large number of pottery residue samples at the K4 excavation site, and the University of Science and Technology of China has also taken samples, and the relevant residue detection and analysis research is being carried out in an orderly manner. Susceptibility detection, firing temperature research, soil sample microstructure research, microbial analysis research... These latest analytical tests are being carried out in an orderly manner.
It is understood that the excavation briefing "Bronze-topped Statue of Kneeling Figure Unearthed from No. 3 Sacrifice Pit of Sanxingdui Site", "Bronze Head Kneeling Portrait Excavated from No. 4 Sacrifice Pit of Sanxingdui Site", and the research article "Carbon 14th Century Research of No. 4 Sacrifice Pit of Sanxingdui Site in Guanghan, Sichuan" have been published in "Sichuan Cultural Relics" in 2021, and "The Discovery of Silk Residues at Sanxingdui Site and Its Archaeological Value Thinking" was published in China Cultural Relics News. Timely publication of resources or phase results during the course of the project. The excavation of Sanxingdui has not yet been completely completed, and briefings and articles have been published one after another, which has made people in the archaeological circle experience the real "Sanxingdui speed".
Pits 5 to 8 are still underway
It's a pleasant surprise and an expectation
Pit No. 5 has been prepared to extract the accumulation in the pit back to the laboratory, and it is expected to complete the field cleaning work at the end of September and transfer to the laboratory for fine cleaning. Up to now, No. 5 Pit has cleaned up a total of 19 pieces of gold, 2 pieces of jade, 2 pieces of bronze, and nearly 300 pieces of ivory carving fragments, etc., which are more typical of gold masks, bird-shaped gold ornaments, olive-shaped jade, round gold leaf, jade beads and cloud thunder pattern ivory carvings.
K6 unearthed jade knife
The field excavation work of Pit No. 6 has been completed on July 19, 2021, and the "wooden box" and the wood tools on the west side of the pit have been extracted back to the laboratory as a whole, and the archaeological center of the Laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is responsible for carrying out indoor excavations. Up to now, only two pieces of wood and 1 piece of jade knife including the "wooden box" have been excavated from the sixth pit, but the "wooden box" has not been cleaned up, and whether there are more cultural relics unearthed needs to be clarified.
K7 status quo Yu Jia photo
Pit No. 7 has been cleared of the soil accumulation, exposing the buried accumulation, including the topmost tusk and other material relics under it, the number of ivory is expected to be nearly 200, the cultural relics that can be confirmed include jade stone ge, zhang, yao and bronze human heads, collared bi, turtle back hanging ornaments, etc., ivory extraction work is currently being carried out, and it is expected to extract all the ivory and begin to extract buried cultural relics in October. At present, 1 piece of bronze, 3 pieces of gold and 5 pieces of jade have been excavated from No. 7 Pit, and 80 ivory (including broken ivory) have been extracted, and typical cultural relics include bronze heads with black color and fish-shaped gold leaf pieces.
K8 unearthed jade has a collar
K8 local Yu Jia photo
K8 status quo Yu Jia photo
Pit No. 8 has been cleaned up to fill the soil pile, ash accumulation, exposing the ivory and ivory buried cultural relics, the number of ivory is expected to be nearly 200, the cultural relics that can be confirmed include copper human heads, copper masks, bronze statues, copper fangs, copper altars, bronze god beasts, copper top statues, yuzhang, jade ge, jade collar bi, stone chimes, etc., is currently carrying out ivory extraction work, is expected to extract the whole ivory in October and begin to extract buried cultural relics. At present, the approximately complete instruments extracted include 54 bronzes, 349 gold objects, 199 jades, 34 stone tools, 66 ivory extracted (including broken ivory), and typical cultural relics include small bronze convex bird figures, gold masks, jade zhangs, stone chimes, etc.
Image and video source: In addition to the signature, the rest are provided by the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Author: Heritage Editing Center of China Cultural Relics Daily