Mysterious Artifacts From Unknown Civilization Discovered In China

According to Tia Ghose (Live Science), in 1929 a local farmer stumbled onto jade and stone artifacts at Sanxingdui while repairing a sewage ditch. Since then, researchers have uncovered more than 50,000 ancient items at the site: A major excavation in 1986, for example, revealed two ceremonial pits containing more than 1,000 items, including intricate, well-kept bronze masks. Experts uncovered a third pit in 2019 and five more last year. 

Last March 2021, a team of Chinese archaeologists have discovered over 500 sophisticated artifacts and treasures at Sanxingdui in Shicuan which belong to an unknown civilization. And the symbols on the artifacts, which are not yet deciphered, have no apparent link to Chinese culture.

A massive dig at the Sanxingdui site in the southwest province of Sichuan in 2019 discovered three thousand years old of artifacts that were made from gold, bronze, jade and ivory, including a gold mask.

One of the pit contain various treasure burials (Image credit: South China Morning Post)

The treasures unearthed recently belonged to a highly-developed civilisation that may have lasted for thousands of years but never appeared in any historical records.

An artifact with unknown symbols carved on it (Image source: Smithsonian Mag) 

Experts are unsure who made the artifacts, but they speculate that the cache’s creators belonged to the Shu state, a highly skilled civilization conquered by the neighboring state of Qin in 316 B.C. Because the people of Shu left behind only few written records.

Some experts think the items were used for burials, while others believe they were for magical or religious ceremonies.

They also found a fragment of golden mask that may have been worn by a priest. About 84 percent pure gold, the piece likely weighed close to one pound in its entirety, making it one of the heaviest gold masks from that time period discovered in China to date.

Mysterious Golden Mask (Image credit: South China Morning Post)

According to Mr. Sun Hua, a Professor at School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, he said that it's strange when they were at Sanxingdui, it shocked them because they were never seen anything like this before, figures of humans and gods engraved in bronze ware, reflecting the social life of people in Sanxingdui.

The unknown civilisation may have been prosperous and was technologically advanced, the discovery suggests that chinese culture may have roots in a fusion of different peoples.

While the new discoveries have amazed many, the country is already home to 55 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Sources:

• https://www.livescience.com/49247-chinese-civilization-disappearance-explained.html
• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-3000-year-old-chinese-artifacts-180977294/
• https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3126282/treasures-mystery-civilisation-could-rewrite-history-china
• https://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-greatest-archaeological-finds-lost-113234089.html