Chinese archaeologists unearth biggest bronze beast from Sanxingdui ruins
- The animal figure is the largest uncovered from the mysterious site in decades of digging and has a large mouth, huge ears and hooves
- The ruins are believed to contain the treasures of the Shu kingdom, which dates back 4,500 years
The bronze was discovered in July last year, but archaeologists were not able to lift it out of the pit until Wednesday, when other bronze objects piled on top of the statue were removed.
Why archaeologists are so excited by China’s Sanxingdui ruins
“But this one is very large in size, with height and width both measuring about one metre (3.3 feet). It’s the only one at the whole site,” Zhao was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying.
A human figurine was attached to what looks like a horn on the creature’s head. The figure was dressed in a long gown and appeared to be riding or controlling the animal.
Another human-shaped artefact was found lying by the animal’s side with its head missing. Human statuettes in different postures were also found nearby, which Zhao speculated could originally have been attached to the bronze beast’s body.
“A holy tree was cast on the chest of the animal, showing people in Sanxingdui worshipped the holy tree or treated it as a god,” Zhao was quoted as saying. “Such a configuration has not been found among any previously excavated artefacts. It’s extremely interesting.”
His team also speculated there could be a larger object that was attached to the beast’s back and has yet to be unearthed.
The ruins were discovered in the southwestern city of Guanghan in the late 1920s, but excavation work did not start until the 1980s, when archaeologists made a breakthrough and discovered two sacrificial pits containing more than 1,700 artefacts.
More than 400 class A artefacts – the most historically and culturally valuable, according to China’s classification system – were unearthed at the ruins during the first two decades of digging.
Excavation was paused in 2002, resuming only in 2020, after six more pits were identified. More than 13,000 artefacts have been uncovered since then, including a bronze sacrificial altar with human figures, a bronze sculpture with a human head and snake body and a dragon-shaped bronze statue with a pig’s nose.