The Sanxingdui Site has successfully crossed pits and assembled two large bronze artifacts, which are either artistic images of sacrificial deities from the ancient Shu period

Beijing, June 10th (Xinhua) - With the comprehensive completion of field work in the Sanxingdui site's sacrificial area, the indoor sorting, protection, and restoration of cultural relics unearthed from the new sacrificial pit has become one of the most important tasks in the current research on the Sanxingdui site. On June 10th, the Sanxingdui site's sacrificial area recreated two large bronze artifacts that were successfully assembled across pits - a bronze beast carrying a kneeling human top statue and a bronze Lei seat upside down bird foot top statue.

A bronze beast kneels and sits on a human head, holding a bronze statue

The bronze beast kneels and sits with a person holding a bronze statue. Provided by Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

The bronze beast kneels and sits with a person on the top, with a bronze statue standing at a height of 1.589 meters. Composed of three parts: upper, middle, and lower. The bronze statue is composed of a kneeling figure with a copper top statue unearthed from Pit 3 in 2021, a mouth edge of a copper statue unearthed from Pit 2 in 1986, and a copper divine beast unearthed from Pit 8 in 2022.

The first layer is a relatively large monster, standing with its head raised and chest straight, its head large and flat, long ears, and the words "minister" hooked at the corners of its eyes. It is also draped with a lion like mane at the back of its head; Sturdy limbs, standing straight, with a rhinoceros like armor fold on the elbow, and four petal shaped toes on each foot. The tail is fluffy. Standing in the center of the head of the divine beast stands a small bronze figure in gorgeous attire, with a slender body, protruding eyes, standing upright, holding hands in a posture, wearing a slanted long robe, cloud shoes on the feet, and a pair of pointed hats on the head.

The second layer is decorated with a figure of a monster kneeling on its back, with bronze figures resembling thick eyebrows and big eyes. Wearing a long sleeved shirt with a twisted cloud and thunder pattern on the upper body, and a short skirt adorned with eye patterns on the lower body, with arms raised in front of the chest, tied around the waist, and tied in a knot in front of the body. Both hands seem to hold an object, with a small crown on top and a large crown on top, forming a square platform to support the copper statue on top. The third layer is a three section folding shoulder statue, which is tall and slim. There are six alternating dragon and beast shaped three-dimensional accessories from the shoulder to the neck.

The bronze beast kneels and sits with a person holding a bronze statue. Provided by Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

This set of bronze artifacts represents an altar and shapes a sacrificial scene. Kneeling on the back of the divine beast should be considered as a wizard, and kneeling and standing is the most devout posture of the ancient Shu ritual gods. The bronze man standing on top of the divine beast may be a symbol of the ancient Shu king. The copper statue on the head of the witch has a Central Plains cultural style, and inside the statue, there are offerings such as seashells, jade, or wine.

Bronze Lei pedestal inverted bird foot top statue

The statue of a deity standing upside down with bird feet on the top of a copper Lei pedestal. Provided by Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

The statue of a deity standing upside down with bird feet on the top of a copper Lei pedestal is 2.53 meters high and consists of four parts. It is composed of four parts: a copper bird footed portrait unearthed from Pit 2 in 1986, a climbing dragon bronze cover unearthed from Pit 3 in 2021, a copper topped statue with a curved body supporting a Lei, a copper holding dragon standing statue, and a copper staff shaped vessel unearthed from Pit 8 in 2022.

This is a complex combination of copper vessels with unique shapes, mainly composed of copper containers, deities, and human figures. The main body of the bronze vessel is an inverted deity statue, protruding vertically, with obvious fangs, and hair strands visible in front of the forehead and behind the head. The hands of the statue are pressed on the lid of the square bronze Lei, with their heads raised and their bodies bent, and their feet facing upwards. The soles of their bird clawed feet have bird shaped clouds. On the head of the statue is a copper statue, and on the umbrella shaped flower button cap is a hanging dragon lying down. Behind the dragon stands a braid haired man wearing a high crown, with deer teeth in his ears, dressed in formal attire, and wearing hanging boots. He holds a thick dragon head cane with its head bent downwards in both hands.

The statue of a deity standing upside down with bird feet on the top of a copper Lei pedestal. Provided by Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

The bird footed deity statue, which combines bronze artifacts, has protruding eyes, protruding longitudinally, exposed fangs, and a cracked mouth. The ears are unique, with strands of hair visible in front of the forehead and behind the head. The statue wears a double breasted garment on its upper body and a short skirt with a waistband on its lower body. The bird like feet are particularly eye-catching, clearly divine rather than human. The posture of the statue is extremely unique, supported by both hands and standing upside down on top of the bronze Lei. There is a Gu shaped statue on the top of the head, and the limbs below the waist are curled upwards in reverse. The legs are muscular and powerful, while the feet transform into bird claws and tightly grip an inverted eagle head. Above the eagle head is the abstract eagle body.

The statue of a deity standing upside down with bird feet on the top of a copper Lei pedestal. Provided by Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

This is a tall bronze sacrificial statue. The curved figure presents a bird like, fanged, and divine face posture. The main structure of the altar is a Lei shaped base and a main Gu shaped statue. The animal face pattern and banana leaf pattern on the body of the vessel have a Central Plains cultural style in terms of shape and decoration. The statue also showcases the essence of ancient Shu culture and is an artistic masterpiece that emerged under the illumination of Central Plains culture.

It is reported that both bronze statues were made by secondary casting of relatively independent parts, with a huge volume, complex and unique shape. They should be the artistic image of sacrificial statues from the ancient Shu era. They not only have unique and creative Shu culture, but also reflect the strong influence of Central Plains culture. They once again showcase the brilliant ancient Shu civilization and the diverse and integrated Chinese civilization, reflecting the superb bronze design and casting skills of the Sanxingdui site, and the rich imagination and creativity of the ancient Shu era.

The successful cross pit pairing of cultural relics proves that the formation time periods of several sacrificial pits in the sacrificial area are similar, which is of great academic significance for clarifying the archaeological age of each pit, the layout and nature of the sacrificial area, and the study of ancient Shu people's sacrificial forms.