Episode 175 - Sanxingdui and the Shu State

This week, we explore yet another place that’s not a backwater or influenced by aliens! In 1986, two pits were excavated at the site of Sanxingdui (Three Stars Mound) in what is today China’s Sichuan province. These two pits, and six more uncovered in 2021, were full of bronze, jade, gold, and ivory objects that appear to have been “sacrificed” (burned or broken) before burial. The artifacts were made in a style never before seen in Chinese material culture. What was going on at Sanxingdui, and why was the site abruptly abandoned thousands of years ago? We can tell you right off the bat that it wasn’t aliens, but you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out more!

• Seismic Shift (Archaeology)

• Large Standing Figure, Sanxingdui Museum (Art and Archaeology dot com)

• A Preliminary Report on the Standing Bronze Figure from Sacrificial Pit Number Two, Sanxingdui (Early China, via JSTOR)

• New finds at Sanxingdui Ruins show creative power in ancient China (Xinhua Net)

• Sanxingdui relics: What is the secret of the bronze heavenly tree? (CGTN)

• Mysterious Sanxingdui Ruins reveal more stunning relics (Global News)

• Mystery of Ancient Chinese Civilization's Disappearance Explained (LiveScience)

• Sanxingdui: researchers say newly found sites in China date back as far as 3,200 years (South China Morning Post)

• Historical discovery revives wild theories of an alien civilisation in ancient China, but experts say no way (South China Morning Post)

Image: Two of the bronze and gold masks unearthed at Sanxingdui (Wikimedia Commons)