Mysterious artifacts hint at the 'fairy world' of ancient China
By Owen Jarus published about 20 hours ago
Bronze Age artifacts found in China were burned to commune with 'another realm.'
Archaeologists excavate one of the pits at Sanxingdui in China. (Image credit: Photo by Ma Da/VCG via Getty Images)
A bronze sculpture of a snake with a human head, along with a large number of other artifacts including finds made of bronze, jade and gold, have been discovered in a series of pits at the archaeological site Sanxingdui in Sichuan, China.
The discoveries also include a bronze box with jade inside, gold masks and a bronze altar, Xinhua news agency reported(opens in new tab).
"The sculptures are very complex and imaginative, reflecting the fairy world imagined by people at that time, and they demonstrate the diversity and richness of Chinese civilization," Zhao Hao, an associate professor at Peking University and excavation leader at one of the Sanxingdui pits, told Xinhua.
Two pits were excavated in the 1980s, and six more have been excavated since 2020, Xinhua reported. Archaeologists have discovered a total of 13,000 artifacts that are believed to date to the Bronze Age, between 4,500 and 3,000 years ago, according to Xinhua.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/mysterious-artifacts-hint-at-the-fairy-world-of-ancient-china
