Sangxingdui Bronze Head at The Museum of Natural Science of Houston, USA

This bronze head (height 27 cm) originates from the thirteenth or twelfth century BCE that was excavated from Pit 1 in Sanxingdui. Read mroe about the Sanxingdui Bronzes here Amid the once-tranquil village of Sanxingdui, in a quiet part of Sichuan province in China, a remarkable discovery took place which immediately attracted international attention and has since rewritten the history of Chinese civilisation. Two giant sacrificial pits were unearthed containing thousands of gold, bronze, jade, ivory and pottery artifacts that were so unusual and unlike anything ever found in China before, that archaeologists realised they had just opened the door to an ancient culture dating back between 3,000 and 5,000 years. In the spring of 1929, a farmer was digging a well when he discovered a large stash of jade relics. This was the first clue that eventually led to the discovery of a mysterious ancient kingdom. Generations of Chinese archaeologists searched the area without success until 1986, when workers accidentally found the pits containing thousands of artifacts that had been broken, burned, and then carefully buried. The discovery of the artifacts opened up a world of intrigue. The objects found in the sacrificial pits included animal-faced sculptures and masks with dragon ears, open mouths and grinning teeth; human-like heads with gold foil masks; decorative animals including dragons, snakes, and birds; a giant wand, a sacrificial altar, a 4-metre tall bronze tree; axes, tablets, rings, knives, and hundreds of other unique items. Sanxingdui (Chinese: 三星堆; pinyin: Sānxīngduī; literally: three stars mound) is the name of an archaeological site and the previously unknown Bronze Age culture for which it is the type site. Sanxingdui is now believed to be the site of a major ancient Chinese city in what is now Sichuan, China. The Bronze Ageculture which inhabited it was re-discovered in 1987 whenarchaeologists excavated remarkable artifacts, that radiocarbon dating dated as being from the 12th-11th centuries BCE. The culture that produced these artifacts is now known as the Sanxingdui Culture, and archeologists are identifying it with the ancient kingdom of Shu. The artifacts are displayed in the Sanxingdui Museum located near the city of Guanghan. The discovery at Sanxingdui, as well as other discoveries such as the Xingan tombs in Jiangxi, challenges the traditional narrative of Chinese civilization spreading from the central plain of the Yellow River, and Chinese archaeologists have begun to speak of multiple centers of innovation jointly ancestral to Chinese civilization. This object is part of Scan The World. Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email [e-mail] to find out how you can help.这件青铜头像（通高27厘米）出土于三星堆1号祭祀坑，年代可追溯至公元前13或12世纪。更多关于三星堆青铜器（Sanxingdui Bronzes）的内容，请点击此处。 在中国四川省的静谧之地，三星堆村落曾迎来一项举世瞩目的考古发现（archaeological discovery），该发现一经问世便引发全球学界广泛关注，更自此改写了中华文明的历史脉络。此次发掘出土了两座大型祭祀坑（sacrificial pit），内藏数千件金器、青铜器、玉器、象牙器与陶器。这些器物形制独特，与此前中国境内出土的所有文物均大相径庭，考古学家由此意识到，他们正揭开一个距今3000至5000年的古老文明的神秘面纱。 1929年春，一位农民在挖井时意外发现了大量玉器遗存，这是揭开神秘古王国面纱的首个线索。此后数代中国考古工作者持续在该区域探寻，却始终未有斩获，直至1986年，当地工人偶然发掘出这两座祭祀坑，坑内藏有数千件经火烧、破碎后被精心掩埋的文物。 这批文物的出土，掀起了学界无尽的探索热潮。祭祀坑中出土的器物包罗万象：兽面雕塑（animal-faced sculptures）、龙耳阔口露齿带笑的青铜面具（masks with dragon ears, open mouths and grinning teeth）、贴有金箔面罩的人头像（human-like heads with gold foil masks）、龙、蛇、鸟等装饰性动物造型（decorative animals including dragons, snakes, and birds）、巨型权杖（giant wand）、祭祀祭坛（sacrificial altar）、高达4米的青铜树（4-metre tall bronze tree），以及斧、圭、环、刀等器物与数百件风格独特的珍稀文物。 三星堆（Sanxingdui）（中文：三星堆；拼音：Sānxīngduī；字面含义为"三堆土丘"）既是一处考古遗址（archaeological site）的名称，也是此前不为人知的青铜时代文化（Bronze Age culture）的命名遗址。学界现已认定，三星堆遗址是中国四川省境内一处古代大型都城的所在地。该遗址所属的青铜时代文化于1987年经考古发掘重现天日，经放射性碳定年法（radiocarbon dating）检测，其年代可追溯至公元前12至11世纪。如今，创造这批文物的文化被命名为三星堆文化（Sanxingdui Culture），考古学家普遍认为其对应古蜀国（ancient kingdom of Shu）。出土文物现陈列于广汉市附近的三星堆博物馆（Sanxingdui Museum）。 三星堆遗址的发现，与江西新干墓葬（Xingan tombs）等其他考古发现一道，颠覆了中华文明起源于黄河中下游中原地区的传统叙事。中国考古学界自此开始提出，中华文明的形成是由多个创新中心共同孕育而成的多元一体格局。 这件文物是"扫描世界（Scan The World）"项目的藏品之一。"扫描世界"是由MyMiniFactory发起的非营利性公益项目，旨在打造全球范围内可免费获取的3D打印雕塑、艺术品与地标建筑数字档案库。本项目为开源社区协作项目，若您身边有值得分享的文物或艺术品，可发送邮件至[e-mail]了解参与贡献的方式。