Sanxingdui

The Sanxingdui Ruins lie on the south bank of the Yazi River, northwest of Nanxing Town in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province. They are forty kilometers north of Chengdu, the provincial capital, seven kilometers west of downtown Guanghan, and three kilometers from Nanxing Town. The site is a Bronze Age settlement in southwestern China, a vast complex made up of numerous clusters of ancient cultural remains. It takes its name from three prominent mounds of yellow earth on the Chengdu Plain. Sanxingdui was first discovered in early 1929. When excavations began in 1986, archaeologists found a large number of uniquely shaped, exquisite bronze heads and masks, bronze ritual vessels, and jade artifacts in two mysterious pits. The discovery caused a sensation around the world, and the Sanxingdui Ruins were hailed as one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the time. Since the unearthed artifacts appear in no written records, Sanxingdui culture has become a vast mystery, giving rise to speculation and debate. In January 1988, the site was designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. The Sanxingdui Museum broke ground in August 1992, was completed in October 1997, and officially opened to the public.