Long before the excavation work of Sanxingdui Pit No. 8 began.

In other words, when the entire Sanxingdui restart excavation project just started, the Sichuan Archaeological Research Institute had a very important task.

That is to determine the exact age of the Sanxingdui sacrificial pit!

Don't think this is a small thing.

In fact, academic circles have been arguing for more than 30 years as to the exact age of the Sanxingdui sacrificial pit.

Although it is basically believed to be in the late Shang Dynasty, accurate evidence has been lacking.

Sacrifice pits No. 1 and 2 were discovered in the 1980s. At that time, there were no very advanced dating methods.

Therefore, in this round of excavations, the first thing to determine is the exact age of these sacrificial pits.

Experts extracted nearly 200 samples and conducted carbon-14 dating. Chen Han heard that the results were already available.

"The results are out."

Zhuang Yunpeng, who was also checking the latest research results on his mobile phone, said with joy: "The dating data are concentrated from 1131 to 1012 BC."

“The unearthed pottery point-bottomed cups, pottery high-neck jars, pottery mouth-shaped urns, etc. are similar in shape to similar objects at the Lanyuan site of the Jinsha site.”

"Basically, it can be seen that except for Pit No. 5 and Pit No. 6, which are slightly later, the remaining pits are buried in the same age, which is the late Shang Dynasty, about 3200 to 3000 years ago. This solves the problem of "sacrifice pits" in the past thirty years.

"The Burial Age Controversy."

"The burial ages of pits 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8 are basically the same, while pits 5 and 6 are later."

"Furthermore, through botanical archaeology, it is clear that the ash in the pit No. 4 is mainly composed of bamboo, and there are also Phoebe, broad-leaved trees, palms, reeds, grasses, cabbage, soybeans, chrysanthemum pear, etc."

"This shows that the climate of ancient Shu was warm and humid. The sacrificial area is close to the river and has dense vegetation, so the climate is very good."

"Analysis of other residues also showed that the sacrificed animals included cattle, wild boars, etc."

"Many new discoveries present a more complete and rich variety of Sanxingdui remains and cultural connotations."

"By the way, the first phase of the research on the cultural relics of the Sanxingdui Sacrificial Pit has also been published."

"It basically confirms that the Sanxingdui civilization, that is, the ancient Shu civilization, is an important part of the Chinese civilization!"

"Several new artifacts excavated this time show that there are close cultural connections between the Sanxingdui site and other parts of the country!"

"The bronze statues, bronze lilies, and bronze vessels found in Pit No. 3 and Pit No. 8 are typical bronze vessels of the Yin and Shang culture in the Central Plains."

"The jade congs found in Pit No. 3 and Pit No. 4 come from the Qijia culture in the Gansu and Qinghai regions."

"The collared jade bis, jade seals, and jade Ge discovered in Pit No. 3, Pit No. 7, and Pit No. 8 have been found in Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong, and the vast South China area."

"The large number of gold objects found in each pit are consistent with the ancient tradition of using gold objects in the half-moon area."

"The sacred tree, the kneeling figure on top, and a large number of dragon-image artifacts indicate that the users of the Sanxingdui site are similar to the ancients in other parts of the country in terms of their own identity, etiquette, religion, and understanding of nature."

"This undoubtedly shows that the ancient Shu civilization to which the Sanxingdui site belongs is an important member of the Chinese civilization."

"This round of Sanxingdui excavations is of great significance. It has allowed us to learn more about the Sanxingdui civilization."

"The most important thing is that those marketing accounts can no longer write bizarre articles such as Sanxingdui is an alien civilization, an extraterrestrial civilization, or even a branch of Egyptian civilization!"

Zhuang Yunpeng's tone was a little indignant.

Chen Han can understand it very well.

If we say that those people on the Internet who exaggerate the rumors that Sanxingdui civilization is left by aliens can be said to be children in the lake, people with a little normal understanding will not take it seriously and will just laugh it off.

The other group of people on the Internet who spread rumors about Sanxingdui civilization are much more professional.

I don’t know if this group of people really took money from foreign forces, or if they simply had bad intentions and tried to find ways to connect the Sanxingdui civilization with the Egyptian civilization.

Moreover, the articles and videos I made do make some sense at first glance.

For example, because a large number of gold wares were unearthed in Sanxingdui, the number of truly high-quality jade wares in traditional Chinese culture is far less than that of gold wares.

Especially in the previously excavated pits No. 1 and 2, important ritual objects such as jade congs, jade bis, jade seals and jade Ges have not yet been found.

Therefore, these self-media will rely on the Sanxingdui civilization, which also likes to make large quantities of gold objects and is also good at making gold scepters.

It is said that the Sanxingdui people are actually a branch of the ancient Egyptian civilization, which started from North Africa, across the continent, all the way through India, and arrived in the Sichuan Basin.

It is said that the gold objects of the Sanxingdui people are in the same vein as the Egyptian civilization. They are not Chinese civilization, but foreign "colonial" civilization.

It's more than that.

There is another special feature of the Sanxingdui civilization that they seize and exaggerate.

That is the sun worship of Sanxingdui Civilization.

As we all know, when it comes to the sun god and sun worship, the first thing that comes to mind is the ancient Greek civilization, that is, the god Apollo, and then the ancient Egyptian civilization comes to mind.

However, Chinese civilization has one characteristic, that is, it does not have a particularly famous sun god.

The worship of the sun god is a must-have belief in many ancient civilizations. For example, Ra in ancient Egypt, Apollo in ancient Greece, and Surya in ancient India.

Among the ancient civilizations, China is the only country that does not have a serious belief in the sun god.

Of course, some people may say that in Chinese myths and legends, there are Xi He and Chang Xi, one is the sun goddess and the other is the moon goddess.

Yes, there is indeed such a pair of goddesses in Chinese legends, but it is worth explaining clearly!

Xihe and Chang Xi have never been products of religious worship!

In the archaeological discoveries of China, from the late Neolithic to the Qing Dynasty, there are no traces of worship that can represent the "Sun God".

The legend of Xi He and Chang Xi comes from "The Classic of Mountains and Seas"!

"Shan Hai Jing Da Huang Nan Jing" records: "Beyond the southeast sea, between the sweet waters, there is the country of Xihe. There is a woman named Xihe, who bathes in Ganyuan. Xihe, the wife of Emperor Jun, was ten days old.

"

The "Book of Mountains and Seas" is a strange book. Although there is no conclusive conclusion on the year when it was written, it is certainly no earlier than the Eastern Zhou Dynasty!

What is the concept of legend in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas"?

It's equivalent to writing a fox demon in "Liao Zhai", but we can't say that Chinese people worship fox demons, right?

In fact, in Chinese legends that are truly "orally transmitted", the sun usually does not represent worship, but fear and hostility!

What is the most famous Chinese legend about the sun?

That must be Hou Yi shooting the sun.

Even primary school students are familiar with the story of Hou Yi shooting at the sun.

In this story, the ten sons of Xi He and Di Jun, the Golden Crows who act as the sun, are the villains.

The hero is the descendant who shot down nine suns.

Hou Yi, who shot the sun, is the one who is worshiped in myths and legends!

However, the Sanxingdui people’s nearly four-meter-tall bronze sacred tree, golden leaves, and super-large bronze sun wheel all demonstrate their worship of the sun.

Except for Sanxingdui, no other ancient culture of the same scale in the entire land of China worshiped the sun so much!

The sun is central to their beliefs.

The famous Sun Bird gold foil was unearthed at the Jinsha site, which inherits the cultural heritage of Sanxingdui. The Sun Bird is also worshiped very much!

In the sacrificial culture of the Sanxingdui people, the "Sun Bird" is equivalent to the main god among the main gods, and its status is similar to that of the modern Jade Emperor and Taishang Laojun.
Chapter completed!