The Jinsha site is located in the Suopo Township, Jinsha Village, west of Shudu City in Sichuan Province, China. It spans approximately 5 square kilometers and served as the capital of the ancient Shu Kingdom, a center of ancient civilization in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, dating from the 12th century BCE to the 7th century BCE.
The Jinsha site reappeared in its ancient Shu Kingdom glory, with the main cultural relics dating from the late Shang Dynasty to the Western Zhou period. Important remains include large building foundations, sacrificial areas, general residences, and large cemeteries.
More than 5,000 precious cultural relics, including gold, bronze, jade, stone, ivory, and lacquerware, have been unearthed from the entire site. In addition, there are tens of thousands of pottery fragments, tons of ivory, and thousands of wild boar tusks and deer antlers.
Among these relics, the site contains the world's densest ivory finds from the same period, the richest gold and jade artifacts. The most famous of these is the Golden Sun Bird foil, which has been designated as a symbol of Chinese cultural heritage.
The discovery of the Jinsha site has pushed back the history of Shudu City by 3,000 years, marking it as the beginning of Shudu City's history. It has significant implications for the study of the origins, development, and decline of Shu culture.
Moreover, this site, together with the prehistoric city sites on the Shudu Plain, the Sanxingdui site, and the Warring States boat coffin tombs, jointly construct the four stages of the development and evolution of ancient Shu civilization, proving that the Shudu Plain was the center of civilization's origin in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Realizing that the ground he stood on might be the highly significant Jinsha site, Liang En immediately called Elizabeth to inform her of his discovery and asked her to find a way to get the workers to leave.
Given the potential presence of relics, the current crowded and noisy construction site could lead to unnecessary damage or loss of cultural artifacts.
Soon, the site manager greeted Liang En and then left with the workers. Once they left, Liang En and Joan quickly descended into the pit for further inspection.
Sure enough, when they dug a few centimeters deeper, they discovered numerous artifacts at the bottom of the pit. Liang En found traces of several ivory tusks.
Unlike the shiny, well-preserved ivory he usually saw, these tusks were dry and cracked, full of fissures, resembling shattered bones after being consumed.
"This place is somewhat strange." Joan was naturally puzzled by the pile of objects before her. The pit's situation was clearly abnormal based on their current findings.
The pit contained numerous treasures, each valuable and even precious in that era. However, they were all haphazardly thrown at the bottom of the pit.
More importantly, the found items were scattered and incomplete. Many sets of objects were missing parts, and other parts were visibly damaged.
"I think this pit might be a sacrificial pit. According to ancient Chinese tradition, during sacrifices, they would burn the best offerings or bury them, just like now." Liang En explained to Joan.
"For instance, I found traces of ancient digging and some carbonized organic matter on the edge of the pit dug by the excavator. These are likely remnants of ancient sacrificial burnings."
"If that's the case, then everything makes sense." Joan nodded and then asked, looking at the partially cleared items at the bottom of the pit, "What should we do next?"
"Of course, we need to report this. According to local laws, any discovered cultural relics and sites must be reported. Anything found locally belongs to the state, not to individuals."
With that, Mr. Liang dialed the local archaeological department. Besides this call, he also contacted several prominent archaeologists he had met at a previous conference, hoping to get their help.
Obviously, seeking help in this area wasn't difficult. The archaeologists were very interested in Liang En's discovery.
Due to the closer proximity, these archaeologists arrived even earlier than the professional archaeological team. Within half an hour, most of the people from the conference were on-site, starting their search.
When the professional team arrived later, they were visibly stunned by the lineup, pausing for a while before getting to work and even willingly assisting these experts.
At this point, Liang En found himself much relieved. According to the law, as a foreigner, he wasn't allowed to participate in the excavation unless he received special permission.
However, while he couldn't dig, watching from the side was permissible. So he and Joan sat by the pit, closely observing the excavation.
Thanks to the ample manpower, the excavation progressed quickly. As the work advanced, the archaeological experts began to understand the situation.
By dusk, they had made an initial assessment based on the excavated items, concluding that this site was a significant relic of the Shu civilization from the Shang and Zhou periods, linked to Sanxingdui.
"This will be a major discovery." As the organizer of the conference, the vice president of the Archaeological Association made a brief summary, then had some young people quickly contact more departments.
Thus, on the third day, when Liang En and Joan returned to the site with permits, they found that armed police were stationed outside the site, and strict security checks were required to enter or leave.
"What happened here? Why did things suddenly get so tense?" Upon entering the excavation site, Liang En asked a young scholar he had bonded with during the discussions about his inner doubts.
"This is mainly because, during the cleanup, we realized the site's importance far exceeded our expectations." The young scholar nodded and said.
"According to those academic giants, the pit below is a high-level Shu culture sacrificial pit, so it is likely a high-level and vast ancient Shu cultural site."
"Honestly, everyone is relieved that the surrounding land hasn't been deeply developed. So, barring any accidents, the relics here should be well-preserved."
For archaeologists, undisturbed sites are the best, as the findings are more complete, facilitating the reconstruction of the past and comprehensive research on the site's era.
"From this perspective, we are indeed very lucky." Liang En nodded, then asked, looking at the busy excavation site, "Is there anything I can do now?"
"Of course, you can go to area B3, which is still unmanned." The scholar pointed to a small hill in the distance with few people. "I hope you can find something even more valuable."
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