The society that disappeared

In 1929, a peasant worker in Sichuan province, China, was repairing a sewage ditch located 40km from the province’s capital, Chengdu. As he worked, he began to uncover jade and stone artifacts. These objects were remarkable enough, but their significance was not truly appreciated until in 1986, construction workers digging in the same area unearthed two large pits full of Bronze Age treasures. Archaeologists found that the pits contained ancient jades, weapons, burned animal bones, more than 60 elephant tusks and stunning 2.4m-high bronze sculptures.

The finds were dated to approximately 1200 to 1000 BCE, making them more than 3000 years old. They are a long way, around 1200km, from what was considered the cradle of Chinese civilisation at the time on the central plain of the Yellow River region. Interestingly, they show a technical ability and supernatural style that was not present in other areas at the time. Even more fascinating is who buried these objects and why did they bury them?

The site in question is an area known as Sanxingdui and archaeologists now believe that a culture existed in the area for around 350 years and then deliberately dismantled itself, burying nits treasures as it did. A discovery made 14 years ago might give some clues as to why a culture would do this.

That discovery was made in the Jinsha area and while it did not include impressive bronzes such as were found at Sanxingdui, the Jinsha find did contain a gold crown with similar engraved motifs of fish arrows and birds as appeared on a gold staff at Sanxingdui. This has led some to theorise that the Sanxingdui culture may have relocated to Jinsha, possibly due to an earthquake.

Ancient writers recorded an earthquake in around 1100 BCE in the Shaanxi province and, although the area is 400km from Sanxingdui, it is possible that the epicentre was closer to Sanxingdui but was just not recorded. Geological evidence also supports an earthquake in the region between 3300 and 2200 years ago. It could be that the earthquake triggered landslides and rerouted rivers, leaving the Sanxingdui culture without water and forcing them to move.

It is all speculation because the Sanxingdui culture left no written records or human remains and were unknown until their treasure pits were uncovered. What is certain is that prosperous and advanced civilisations are not invincible and can disappear from history.