Archaeologists continuing their hunt in the remarkable Sanxingdui ruins in southwest China have written about unearthing more than 10,000 relics and artefacts from two new pits in recent years.
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The latest discoveries were found buried under hundreds of elephant tusks, according to details published in the journal Sichuan Cultural Relics last month.
The dazzling finds ranged from gold masks, jade and sea shells, to bronze heads, vessels and statues.
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One of the excavation sites was the largest burial pit among eight in what is called the Sanxingdui “ritual area”. Measuring 19 square metres (205 sq ft) and dating to between 1117BC and 1015BC, the pit contained bronze vessels featuring characteristics peculiar to the late Shang dynasty. The Bronze Age dynasty was also the first Chinese royal line backed by historical evidence.
