Upper length 6.94 cm, lower length 6.3 cm, upper hole diameter 5.55 cm, lower hole diameter 5.14 cm, height 22.2 cm.
Length: 138 cm, width: 85 cm, height: 6 cm, weight: 71.1 kg.
Total height: 260.8 cm, figure height: 180 cm, base dimensions: 48 cm (width) × 46.7 cm (length) × 35 cm (height), weight: 142 kg.
Maximum diameter: 140 cm, total height: 396 cm, residual tree height: 359 cm, base diameter: 93.5 cm, weight: 20 kg.
Dimensions: Length 20.5 cm, width 10.4 cm, height 10.7 cm, thickness 0.08 cm.
Outer diameter 12.53 cm, inner diameter 5.29 cm, thickness 0.02 cm.
Located in the Chengdu Plain in the western part of the Sichuan Basin,“Sanxingdui and Jinsha Sites”(1600~800BCE)comprises two component parts-the Ruins of Sanxingdui City and the Core Area of Jinsha Site, together they formed an archaeological complex that was built by the ancient Shu people, featured by their distinct social stratification and unique belief system.The area has a dense network of waterways and vast expanses of farmland, and connects to the spectacular Longmen Mountain Range on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,offering a striking example of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.
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One pit held nearly 400 tusks, one of which came from… a superb elephant with tusks 1.85m long.I have already described here the new discoveries at Sanxingdui, the great city that commanded the Sichuan Plain in China from 1200 BC (CWA 110). However, I cannot refrain from returning to it, because a couple of months ago a most welcome and unexpected email arrived. It invited me to fly up to Chengdu and attend a three-day symposium to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the discovery of the jades that led to the recognition of the site as one of supreme importance in the rise of early civilisations in China. Of course, I accepted without hesitation, and I write this on my flight home. Once again, I was taken aback by the scale of any visit to China. A huge new airport awaited me at Chengdu, a luxurious room in a 30-storey hotel followed, and then up-to-the-minute facilities at Sichuan University. We began with two days of talks, all but two in Chinese with simultaneous translation. Most centred on interpreting the contents of the sacrificial pits that were excavated in 2020-2022. Within were layered first, ash and then elephant tusks, bronzes, and finally jades and gold. One pit held nearly 400 tusks, one of which came from what must have been a superb elephant with tusks 1.85m long.What came through with particular clarity was the importance of ritual and performance that underlay the conspicuous consumption and destruction of these treasures. Sun Hua from Peking University, for example, summarised his evaluation of engravings on a jade sceptre. There is a group of four standing men on the upper register, while down below they are matched by four kneeling men, all with their arms positioned to hold an artefact of presumed significance. From this pattern, he skilfully reconstructed a ceremonial procession flanked by court shamans leading to a raised temple. Kazuo Miyamoto from Kyushu University looked in detail at the motifs on the bronze ceremonial vessels and compared them with the contemporary repertoire from the Shang civilisation capital at Anyang on the Central Plains. Placing Sanxingdui in a world context, Wang Haicheng, who teaches at the University of Washington, gave some fascinating insights into parallel instances from the Maya to Sumeria and other early states, for gold masks, deities, temples, and rituals.I have to admit a feeling of being somewhat upstaged when my own contribution followed Ran Honglin’s description of the newest bronzes from the pits. I related the Southeast Asian contribution to trade with early Chinese states in, for example, the provision of treasured cowrie shells, and in return, the very rare presence of Chinese jade sceptres in Vietnam. However, when I turned to the social impact of the first Southeast Asian bronzes, my socketed axes, bangles, and bells looked decidedly provincial set alongside the rich fare from Sanxingdui.
Gorgeous, could be modern !
China had a Great Culture
