● Where did the gold of Sanxingdui Civilization come from?
Many gold articles have been unearthed at Sanxingdui Site.
More than 1 meter long gold walking stick is covered with patterns, 2.62 meters high bronze standing man, 1.38 meters wide giant bronze mask, 3.96 meters high bronze god tree, bronze head of the gold mask and so on.
These national treasures prove that Sanxingdui Ruins are one of the important birthplaces of Chinese culture.
As time went on, the Sanxingdui site was continuously excavated.
On March 20, 2021, the archaeological team made significant progress in excavating the Xingdui site, discovering an exquisite gold mask with a kneeling head, silk relics, ivory and ivory products among six newly discovered sacrificial pits.
Experts speculate that these expensive items were used by people of higher status at the time.
Gold symbolized power and status, especially the golden crutches, which may have been the scepter at the top of the pharaoh's power, representing the ability to communicate with God, and may have been used only in worship.
But when smelting was very primitive, there was no gold smelting technology, and there was no gold mining technology.
Where does gold come from?
Ordinary charcoal burns at about 900 degrees Celsius and can only melt bronze, not gold.
Otherwise there would be no old saying that true gold stands the test of fire.
● Gold from meteorites
One idea that has been put forward is that gold may have come from asteroids and comets in outer space.
When asteroids and comets are captured by the earth's gravity, they fall to the earth and become what are called meteorites.
So there's some basis for this idea, and it's not impossible.
Modern astronomy also confirms that gold comes from super cosmic events, such as the merger of two neutron stars and supernova explosions.
At high temperatures and pressures, everything turns to gold in a few seconds, but the amount produced is extremely limited, which makes gold a precious metal.
Very few meteorites with gold in them fall to earth and are picked up.
Gold is heated and then hammered into objects.
Gold has become a symbol of status and power precisely because the amount of gold that people can get from meteorites is so limited.
Made into a very limited number of staff and masks, there is a sense of sacredness.
It was used only for the clergy and the crown, representing the highest power.
Not only did the ancients discover gold, but also many people have discovered it in modern times.
The gold found on the ground is called nugget.
In 1982, a gold nugget weighing 3.3 kilograms was found in Huma County, Heilongjiang Province.
In 1987, someone found a gold nugget weighing 6 kilograms in Baiyu County, Sichuan Province.
In 1997, someone found a 6.5-kilogram stone wrapped gold in Sigou, Menyuan County, Qinghai Province.
In 2015, herders in Xinjiang province found a 7.8kg gold nugget, which seems to have been found by a lot of people.
I believe the ancients did the same. It was enough to make a few symbols of divine power.
● From Longmen Mountain?
However, archaeologists have made a new discovery.
There was a gold mine on Longmen Mountain, not far from Sanxingdui Ruins, so gold sand flowed out of the river in the mountain at one time. Some people even found gold nuggets in the river.
Therefore, it is suspected that the gold at Sanxingdui may have come from the Longmenshan gold mine.
Although it was not possible to mine gold, it was possible to collect gold sand from rivers, heat it, and hammer it into masks and staffs.
After the ancient people had the ability to mine gold, there were more than 30 gold mining caves in Longmen Mountain, and Liu Tianguan opened 7 gold mining caves in the Ming Dynasty.
There is also a legend about the Longmenshan gold mine.
Legend has it that Emperor Chongzhen attached great importance to the Longmenshan gold mine in the late Ming Dynasty and specially ordered Liu Yuliang to mine gold here.
On one occasion, the crown prince himself came here to get it and was put under house arrest by Liu.
Later, the crown prince died and was buried on the mountain.
Therefore, there are two possible sources of gold in Sanxingdui Site, one is from the extremely rare meteorite, the other is from the gold sand from the gold cave in Longmen Mountain, the latter is more likely than the former, it is easier to get gold, after all, a nearby tower gets the moon first, what do you think about this?
All in all, the golden walking sticks and masks found in the Sanxingdui site still look exquisite even after thousands of years, proving the superb craftsmanship. Chinese culture is truly extensive and profound!
