Lost kingdom of Sun found

Lost kingdom of Sun found

Updated:
2007-07-23
China Daily

Gold fever

Jinsha means 'gold sand'. True to its name, the site has proved extraordinarily rich in gold relics.

"Chinese people typically use gold as jewellery -- earrings, bracelets or necklaces --
but Jinsha people used gold for sacrificial purposes.

They made gold masks, gold headware and strange, horn-shaped objects in finely worked gold,"

said Sun Hua, an archaeologist from Beijing University.

Experts are flabbergasted by the ancient people's skill in making gold artefacts.

Two relics in particular showcase their technical prowess.

One is a round foil bearing images of the Sun and of four flying birds. The gold foil is only about 0.02 cm thick, the width of a piece of paper, 12.5 cm in diameter and 94 percent pure. Some people have speculated that the twelve lights around the Sun represent the twelve months and the four flying birds the four seasons. "It''s just speculation. No one can say for sure what the pictures really mean," Zhu said, "but we do know that the ancient kingdom worshipped the Sun and birds."

Others have said that ancient Chinese may have believed that the Sun is carried from east to west on the backs of birds. The sun and birds appear on many Jinsha relics. The piece, dubbed the Sun and the Immortal Birds, has since become a logo for Chinese cultural heritage protection.