Under the topsoil lay dozens of elephant tusks, covering a densely packed layer of bronzes. Though researchers are trying to remain calm, the answers to many decades-old questions may finally be within reach. The hope is that cutting-edge material analysis will provide unprecedented insights into these artifacts - and the people who buried them. More than 30 research institutes from across China have cleared their laboratories to receive the samples. More importantly, researchers will be able to analyze the dig sites using a range of scientific techniques that weren’t available when Pits 1 and 2 were discovered.Įvery object inside the new pits - as well as the surrounding soil - is being painstakingly collected, dated, and sealed in air-tight containers, before being sent for analysis. The latest excavations have already produced several striking finds, which have generated enormous public interest. “You never see so many ivories and bronze artifacts packed so densely together.”įor the team, the new pits represent a golden opportunity.
“When we cleared off the topsoil, the sight in front of me was really shocking,” says Xu Feihong. Xu Feihong stands outside the dig site in Sanxingdui, Sichuan province, April 2021. Like the originals, they appear to be sacrificial sites filled with ritual artifacts. In 2019, researchers made another stunning discovery: six additional pits located close to the two uncovered in the ’80s. But in the absence of clear archaeological evidence, these debates appeared destined to remain unresolved. Theories about how the civilization emerged have proliferated, with some speculating the settlement was founded by travelers from Egypt – or even extra-terrestrials. No written materials have ever been found at Sanxingdui.įor decades, the riddle of Sanxingdui has fascinated China. And the artifacts themselves offer few clues. Ancient Chinese historians barely mentioned the Southwest, dismissing the region - then known as Shu - as an obscure backwater. Yet the kingdom’s origins remain unknown. It appears that Sanxingdui was once the capital of a powerful and technologically advanced civilization, which flourished in the region around the time of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. Other teams have since unearthed traces of more artifacts, large buildings, and even a city wall.
0 kommentar(er)
