Mention Sanxingdui, we will all think of the distant and mysterious ancient Shu civilization, in the past 30 years, with the continuous excavation of the Sanxingdui site, there are also new surprises coming, for example, recently in the excavation process of No. 5 pit, some special "miniature cultural relics" - small gold beads were found.
This time, archaeologists for the No. 5 pit, a full range of in-depth excavation, compared to other pits, the structure of no. 5 pit is relatively complex, but in the No. 5 pit, there are also many unexpected surprises.
Archaeologists said that in the No. 5 pit, mainly a variety of gold products, including gold masks, various weapons made of gold, at the same time, there are many small, need to be enlarged with a microscope, you can observe carefully small gold beads.
From the perspective of size, these small gold beads unearthed in pit 5, their largest diameter is only between 0.1-0.2 cm, but they are all "small and fine", after instrument testing, the gold content of these small gold beads has reached 99%, you know, this is at least 3,000 years old for ancient humans, the gold content of such a high production process, is simply incredible.
So, what is the use of these small gold beads? How did it come about here? At present, researchers mainly have the following two conjectures.
First, these small gold beads may be "accidental products". Because in pit No. 5, the main excavated cultural relics are mainly gold products, so it is possible that in the process of production, through high temperature burning and melting, resulting in the formation of small gold beads, and then dripping in the soil, and finally in the form of "miniature cultural relics", it was preserved.
Second, these small gold beads may be specially customized, although it is not sure what it was made for, but from its shape, each one is very delicate, not like an "accidental product", it may be made by the ancient Shu people as an ornament.
At present, researchers are still more inclined to the second view, that is, these small gold beads are "intentional", so what is the significance of these small gold beads for the study of sanxingdui civilization?
As a small gold bead with a gold content of up to 99%, although as early as tens of thousands of years ago, ancient humans have been interested in gold, but this "small and fine" gold bead production process, in ancient times, is still very rare, so if these small gold beads are really the ancient Shu people "intentionally", is through a special processing technology, and was artificially made, then, China will also become the world's earliest with the gold bead molding process of the country.
You know, this is an affirmation of the ancient ancestors of our country's handicrafts, but also another discovery of china's ancient folk skills, it can be said that the existence of these small gold beads, far-reaching significance.
Speaking of, from ancient times to the present, people seem to have a strong interest in gold, you know, on the earth, all kinds of mineral deposits are very much, then, why as early as ten thousand years ago, human beings have known the value of gold?
The study believes that gold is one of the earliest metals discovered and used by humans, from the perspective of time, at least 18,000 years ago, ancient humans already knew the value of gold, and the gold resources were mined, and simply processed and decorated. Relative to other metals we are familiar with, it is at least thousands of years old.
So, how did the ancients know that gold was worth? The study believes that it is possible that the ancients in the natural world, inadvertently picked up the exposed gold, found that this "stone" emitted dazzling brilliance, so they thought that it should be very valuable, coupled with the fact that the mining of gold itself is not easy, naturally, it also led to gold from ancient times to the present, has been valuable.
In addition, there is a more alternative point of view, some people speculate, perhaps in the ancient period of the earth, there were alien civilizations dedicated to the earth to mine gold, ancient humans saw them mining gold, so they know that these things are very valuable, naturally with the passage of time, when human evolution to a certain stage, they also have the ability to mine gold, it is natural to regard gold as one of the most valuable things.
Of course, no matter which one the answer is, the value of gold is beyond reproach, and China, is also one of the earliest countries in the world to mine gold, as early as the Neolithic Age, China's ancient working people, has begun to mine gold, silver ore, at the same time, also began to smelt, make a variety of utensils, ornaments.
Therefore, in the Sanxingdui civilization, there will be a large number of gold jewelry, which is also one of the proofs of China's ancient craftsmanship, just like these small gold beads, you know, these small gold beads, but the world's known, the oldest, the highest gold content of the small gold beads, there is no one.