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Sanxingdui
Used to Be a Pilgrimage Center
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????Sacrificial offerings
unearthed at the Sanxingdui, an important relic site in southwest
China's Sichuan Province, have proven that the site used to be a
pilgrimage center in the world during ancient times.
????Zhang Jizhong, deputy curator of the Sichuan
Provincial Sanxingdui Museum, said that Chinese archaeologists have
excavated a piece of shell during the ongoing excavation of the
site, dating back between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago.
????Zhang said that the shell and a great number
of seashells and ivories unearthed here previously came from various
places around the world. "This means that Sanxingdui was a
pilgrimage center in the world in ancient times," Zhang noted.
????A great number of bronze ware and jade ware
have been unearthed at the site, located in the city of Guanghan,
Sichuan Province.
????Zhang Jizhong said the majority of the bronze
ware excavated at the site are sacrificial utensils, which feature
the culture of different regions.
????Bronze sculptures and crutches unearthed at
the site have close relations with the world's famous Mayan Civilization
and the culture of ancient Egypt.
????Experts said the Chinese bronze ware is divided
into seven categories, but none of the seven can include the bronze
wares unearthed at the site. Much of the bronze ware discovered
at Sanxingdui have never been seen in other places of China, they
said.
????Experts believe the seashells and ivories
excavated at the site between 1986 and 1988 were brought to the
site by pilgrims for worshipping and barter trade.
????They confirmed that the ancient kingdom of
Sanxingdui had trade relations with ancient western Asian countries
such as Persia and Egypt, and from other parts of the world.
????However, what surprised Chinese experts is
that there is no historical record of the sacrificial pits, built
in the Shang Dynasty (BC 16th Century-BC 11th Century), excavated
at the site.
????They have not found any characters except
some signs on golden crutches.
????Chinese archaeologists have been conducting
a large-scale excavation of the site since December 4.
(Xinhua 12/14/2000)
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