On September 9, 2021, the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology held an important project of "Archaeology in China"-a press conference on the phased results of archaeological excavations at the Sanxingdui site, and announced major archaeological phases such as Pit 3 and Pit 4 in the sacrificial area of the Sanxingdui site Results. What are the new discoveries in Sanxingdui?

Sacred Tree Pattern Jade Cong

The jade cong with the sacred tree pattern found in Pit No. 3 is made from a whole piece of gray-white jade material, and the two sides of the corresponding line are carved with the sacred tree pattern, with very shallow notches. The jade cong with the sacred tree pattern has never been seen before, and it provides an important basis for the study of the meaning and symbolism of the sacred tree in ancient Shu society.

Animal face jade square seat with phoenix and bird pattern

The beast-faced phoenix-and-bird jade square seat found in Pit 3 is 13 cm long, 9 cm wide, and 6 cm high. It is cut from a whole piece of blue-gray jade. The utensil is a rectangular parallelepiped with a round hole in the middle of the upper surface. The side of the square is engraved with animal face and phoenix and bird patterns, which is a typical Sanxingdui style. A jade seat of this kind of shape and pattern has never been seen before.

Large altar

The newly discovered bronze altar in Pit No. 8 is huge and has a peculiar shape. It can be divided into three parts: the base, the portrait and the beast. The base is divided into three layers and gradually shrinks. The first base is plain surface, the surface of the second base is decorated with bas-relief, and the third base is hollowed out. Above the base is a platform with three groups of human figures cast.

On the bronze altar discovered this time, the different images of multiple people seem to describe the roles and behaviors of different people in the sacrificial activities at that time, and reproduce the sacrificial scene at that time. For the study of how sacrificial activities were carried out, and how the Sanxingdui sacrificial pit was formed, provided Very important information.

Large Bronze Standing Human Mythical Beast

The large bronze standing beast found in Pit No. 8 was covered by a layer of ashes and a small amount of ivory fragments. There is a single horn on the head, and a bronze figure stands on the single horn. The height of the whole object is about 90 cm and the length is 85 cm. This large bronze animal is the largest among the animal-shaped bronze works seen in Sanxingdui.

It was informed at the meeting that at present, the excavation of Pit 3 has entered the final stage, and it is expected that the field excavation will be completed within two months; the excavation of Pit 4 has been completed. Up to now, a total of 557 complete artifacts (sets) and 1,214 fragments have been unearthed from Pit 3 and Pit 4.

In addition, according to experts, the "age" of Sanxingdui No. 4 pit has been further locked to 3148-2966 years ago; the age of No. 3 pit should be very close to that of No. 2 pit. Period), the age of Pit 3 is also roughly the same. Editor/He Yuting