Fresh Insights into China’s Famed Sanxingdui Illuminate Ancient Trade Networks
Researchers from the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology reported new findings about a famous bronze kneeling figure excavated at China’s Sanxingdui site in Sichuan Province, suggesting it is an assemblage of parts made in different places and times. According to Heritage Daily, laboratory testing found substantial differences between the metal composition and ore origins of the figure and its headpiece (a zong), and the human figure showed significantly greater corrosion. The study also suggests the figure itself may be made of separate sections, including a copper base that differs from the rest of the object. The findings are presented as evidence that Sanxingdui maintained cultural and commercial connections with other regions, including the Central Plains, and that bronze materials and finished objects likely circulated through ancient trade networks.
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This story was covered in Museums Under Fire, Markets Back in Vogue