Bronze mask from Sanxingdui site showcased at CCTV gala

The biggest bronze mask ever excavated from Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan province, was showcased at the Spring Festival gala of China Central Television on Jan 31, the eve of Lunar New Year.

The exotic-looking mask is 1.31-meter-wide, 71-cm-high, and 66-cm-deep. Its weight is about 65 kilograms. The artifact is also the best reserved bronze artifact ever found from the 3,000-some-year-old Sanxingdui site.

Sanxingdui site was first found in 1929. In 1986, two pits (No 1 and No 2 pits) with abundant discoveries of objects , which were speculated to be used for sacrificial ceremonies, were found. From December 2019, a new round of excavation on Sanxingdui site was launched by Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute, unveiling another 6 "sacrificial pits", and the mask was unearthed from No 3 pit in June.

The mask was found to be molded in separate pieces before they were connected together. Some remnant silk pieces were also found on its surface.

By the end of 2021, about 10,000 cultural relics, including gold and bronze masks, bronze figurines, ivory tusks, and jade artifacts, had been recovered from the 6 newly found pits. They showed close connection among present-day Sichuan province, middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River and Central China Plain, and remained as a testimony of how a united yet diverse Chinese civilization was formed.