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Flora Lamson Hewlett Library

Flora Lamson Hewlett Library

Berkeley, California

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Sanxingdui Jade Head, Image 1.
  • Sanxingdui Jade Head
  • Jade
  • 3.75 x 3.5 x 2 in (9.53 x 8.89 x 5.08 cm)
  • Inv: 2015.207
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Sanxingdui (12th – 11th centuries BCE)
China

(pronounced “sahn-shing-dwee”), and translated to “three stars mound”

This location is known for human figures (not just animals).

The Mystery Of Sanxingdui:

"During the summer of 1986, construction workers accidentally uncovered an astounding cache of ancient jades, bone, pottery, elephant tusks, and monumental bronzes at Sanxingdui, about 40 kilometers outside of the Sichuan Province capitol of Chengdu. This chance discovery of two “sacrificial pits” would be one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century and force scholars to rewrite early Chinese history. The objects were dated to about 1800 BC, a time when it was thought that the cradle of Chinese civilization was 1200 kilometers to the northeast on the Yellow River in China’s central plain region.

However, the cast bronzes of Sanxingdui were far larger and much stranger in appearance than anything seen before. The Sanxingdui culture left no written record or human remains and appears to have existed for only about 500 years before it vanished. In 2001, another archaeological discovery, this time in the city of Chengdu at Jinsha, revealed possible clues to the mystery of where they might have gone."*

http://www.hmns.org/exhibits/past-exhibitions/chinas-lost-civilization-the-mystery-of-sanxingdui/

  • Subject Matter: Portrait
  • Collections: Sacred World Art Collection
See all artwork from Flora Lamson Hewlett Library