Sanxingdui Site - Book Report/Review Example

This article gives a review summary of the main concerns and the history of sanxingdui (Zhao 5). The findings of archaeology show that sanxingdui was a hub that had prospered culturally and was as well very developed in prehistoric China. The bonanza is a representation of the highest credentials of the culture of Sanxingdui. It is also a discovery by the archaeologists that is unmatched in reference to the quality, quantity diversity and academic value of the find. This is in reference to the other sites within Sichuan province. Discovering Sanxingdui brings light to the long-forgotten mysteries hidden within remote antiquity.  Birds and fish dual representation is another motif that is decorative and appears on top of the artefacts of Sanxingdui. The province Sichuan, initially, in ancient China, was referred to as Shu. The people of Shu used to stay in south-western border regions of China. The most ancient clan in the Shu kingdom to make an established regime was in Cancong (Zhao 8).

During the 1929 spring, Yan Daocheng, a peasant man, according to sources in China, dug a pit filled with artefacts and jade beside his house when he was repairing sewage ditches near his house. It was noted that the artefacts have strong and unique features endemic to the Shu legendary land. Several archaeologists conducted excavations from the 1930s however it was in vain because there were no fields yielded that were significant. However, the two sacrificial pits detected in 1986 July- September, were the first breakthrough. This resulted in treasure house opening and bringing to light cultural gems that dazzled (Zhao 5).

Some five hundred bronzes found in Sanxingdui are attractions that are very enchanting to visitors and tourists that come. The shapes of the bronze include the divine trees of bronze, a human figure, animal-face and human-face. These bronze masks symbolise the trove specimens. The trove majorly is made up of utensils used for ritual or religious purposes and some bronze used to practice daily. Looking at it from features that determine it, they can be categorised into three. The trove representatives are the first; the images of the hosts of the rituals are their external appearances, the icons or participants of idolatry and fabricated in line with needs of a scarification process that are practical. Bronzes shaped like mythological plants or animals for instance tiger, dragon, roost, snake, fruit, tree and bird are the second type. Finally, the third type consists of almost twelve utensils meant for ritual; for instance lei, pan (plate) and zun (Zhao 12).