(ECNS) -- The Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute announced its latest research findings on Friday, revealing that Sanxingdui's iconic bronze figure, kneeling with a zun vessel on its head, is a vivid re-creation of an actual sacrificial ceremony, reflecting the reverence the ancient Shu people held for the divine thousands of years ago.
The finding challenges the long-held view that these strikingly unusual artifacts were purely abstract, mythical symbols imagined by the ancient Shu.
The key breakthrough came through advanced analysis of the metals' composition and tracing of their cultural origins.
Researchers found that the kneeling figure and the vessel it carries were made by different craftsmen, at different times and in different places, and were only assembled later at Sanxingdui.
This points to the possibility that some Sanxingdui bronzes were cast elsewhere.
Experts said the motif, in which figures bear beasts or vessels, recurs across a number of Sanxingdui bronzes and re-creates real scenes from ancient Shu sacrificial rites rather than imagined ones.
The findings offer a window into how the ancient Shu understood the world and the cosmos, and reflect a blending of Central Plains and local Shu cultural elements.
(By intern Lin Qiaochu)
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