Posted on 07/13/2005 7:21:21 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Archeologists shake up history
NEW EVIDENCE: Artifacts found at a building site and the subsequent discovery of a lost civilization have forced historians to rethink Chinese history as a whole
AFP , JINSHA, CHINA
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005,Page 4
 A worker stands on a stack of bags of cement before a huge billboard featuring the famous ''bronze human head figure with gold mask,'' one of the treasures of the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Sichuan Province in this photo from May. Recent archeological finds from previously unknown civilizations such as the Sanxingdui and the Jinsha are dealing shattering blows to traditional views of Chinese history. PHOTO: AFP |
Day after sweltering day on the banks of the Modi stream, archeologists are dealing shattering blows to traditional views of Chinese history as they work their way through the parched, yellow earth.
One of the world's great cities once flourished here at Jinsha village in China's southwest, the 1000BC equivalent of New York or Paris, and then inexplicably vanished, leaving no trace behind in the historical records.
Until recently, locals had no idea they were living on top of a great lost bronze-age civilization.
"Of course, people get excited when they hear that their home area has such a long history, such an advanced culture, and such refined art," said Jiang Zhanghua, deputy head of the Institute of Archeology in nearby Chengdu City.
The discovery of the site was entirely fortuitous, reflecting how much of the patchy record of the pre-historic past has come together merely by chance.
On a winter day in early 2001, excavation teams sent to the site by a property developer unearthed large numbers of ivory and jade artifacts that clearly suggested a major find.
If the company had decided to just carry on its work, covering the site in concrete as is believed by archeologists to be quite common, the Jinsha civilization might have been forgotten forever. But they called in authorities.
Weird masks
In and by themselves, the artifacts are striking in their weirdness -- masks with strangely protruding eyes, cult statues frozen in poses of unknown, but likely religious, significance.
More importantly, the spectacular discovery in Jinsha has added to the mass of evidence forcing historians to rethink Chinese history as a whole.
It is now clear that Chinese culture had multiple origins and did not, as previous generations of historians confidently believed, follow a simple path from just one single source.
It is a popular idea that the cradle of Chinese civilization is in the Yellow River valley about 1,000km northeast of Chengdu, and matured there before gradually spreading southward.
If nothing else, this traditional concept of history is supported by ancient myths about the Yellow Emperor and other early rulers, held dear by many Chinese.
But historians have long suspected this cannot be right. Ever since, that is, the discovery of the Sanxingdui civilization, about 50km from the Jinsha excavation site.
Here archeologists have been unearthing artifacts for most of the 20th century, discovering what now is confirmed as one of the world's major pre-historic civilizations.
The Sanxingdui culture, which blossomed from 5000BC to 3000BC, is characterized by the same radical strangeness as that unearthed at Jinsha.
Masks with oversized eyes and eyebrows, with some of them covered with gold leaf, are among its hallmarks.
But even as they display unique features, both Sanxingdui and Jinsha also show remarkable parallels with other ancient cultures.
Sacred sun and trees
"Sun worship was practiced here at the same time as it formed a central part of ancient Egyptian cults," says Zhu Yarong, a young historian at the large museum erected at Sanxingdui.
"People here appear to have worshipped sacred trees, just like in Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq," she says.
As the archeologists analyze the finds, they try to solve important questions, such as why the Sanxingdui site had a city wall while Jinsha did not.
The absence of a city wall in Jinsha is particularly strange, because cities in ancient China emerged as concentrations of political power, not trading centers as was mostly the case in the west.
Researchers also know little about the ties the Sanxingdui and Jinsha people had with other cultures, even if they can determine that exchanges must have been frequent.
The archeological teams have uncovered large numbers of ivory tusks originating from China's current border with mainland Southeast Asia.
The question is, how did they get here, and why?
Other questions remain. Where did the Sanxingdui and Jinsha people come from? Where did they go? And what exactly characterized their religion?
These are questions that may never be answered, because the Sanxingdui people left no written record. It is odd that people at their stage of development did not invent some type of writing system, but it is not unheard of.
Other civilizations, most notably in pre-Columbian America, were also illiterate, even as they were highly advanced in other fields such as architecture and astronomy.
Hidden knowledge
For Zhu, the museum historian, the discovery of written records would be a dream come true, unlocking hidden knowledge about how the mystical ancient inhabitants of the area lived and what their thoughts and feelings were.
"We don't know if they actually did invent writing. Maybe they did, but they used a material that has not survived to this day. It would be major, major step forward if we found written records," she says.
LOL!
Thanks!
Still wonedering what would possess a society to cast a huge bronze tree.
But then again, I'm still trying to figure out MODERN artists.
Squint your eyes while looking at the Bronze Image and you think you see a Mayan or an alien. The real TRUTH is OUT There.
It is now clear that Chinese culture had multiple origins and did not, as previous generations of historians confidently believed, follow a simple path from just one single source.Same fate awaits Replacement. ;')
It is a popular idea that the cradle of Chinese civilization is in the Yellow River valley about 1,000km northeast of Chengdu, and matured there before gradually spreading southward. If nothing else, this traditional concept of history is supported by ancient myths about the Yellow Emperor and other early rulers, held dear by many Chinese.Hey, the winners write the history books. That is, if they're smart they do. Like Egypt, China has cultivated the notion that the country has been unified since its beginning, now lost in dim antiquity.
The Sanxingdui culture, which blossomed from 5000BC to 3000BC, is characterized by the same radical strangeness as that unearthed at Jinsha.To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
There's a subculture within the professional history community (to which I belong) who reject the basically PC idea of "out of Africa," and that mankind developed in several places in the world simultaneously. Some say two, some three, I've even seen an argument for seven regional development centers.
Personally, I believe that East Asians and Caucasians evolved in Central/East Asia separate from any of the others, and Caucasians separated and migrated westward heaven knows when. More and more evidence is accumulating that this partial argument for the "multiple centers" argument is true, regardless of what the PC police want us to believe.
Afrocentrism:
Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes
by Stephen Howe
Africana
There is plenty of land, but not plenty of food except at certain times of the year. The FedGov would immediately go out of business. StateGov would remain, and LocalGov would be set up by whoever showed up to form a survival community. The People would make the best of the situation.
I assume the international community would either not respond or be in a similar situation, that is, the situation would be worldwide. Would it be Mad Max? Probably, just like the good old days in China except TribeGov would need a couple generations to get going again.
Race and Human Evolution:
A Fatal Attraction
by Milford Wolpoff
and Rachel Caspari
hardcover
One of the reasons I teach here (for fear of stalkers, I won't say where, but it's in the Triangle) is a lack of this sort of Afrocentrism crapola. I did my undergrad work at Duke, and there's a reason that rhymes with "puke." //apologies for the vulgarism
"that mask looks like Burt from Sesame Street. Hmmm...."
You've solved everything!!
yessss YES! its all falling into place now!
"then inexplicably vanished, leaving no trace behind in the historical records."
No trace, because the winners write the history books -- if they know what they're doing, that is.
How do you think about the theory that Altai Mountains area is the homeland of Aryans?
Honestly, I don't know enough about that specifically to give you a good answer. Sorry.
However, if you can give me references, I'll look them over.
I remember reading some works of Confucius. He always talked about southern kingdom where people painted their body, wore not much clothes or wore some strange decorations.
That is probably how those from the North viewed the southerners, half naked barbarians wearing funny or weird stuffs. It almost gave the impression that he was describing tribal primitives. However, it is possible he was putting them down.
Yes, but. Records are records. Civilizations have ended and left records. I wonder if we will leave records. Those plastic pieces we carry around are probably indesructable, but the data they carry may decay over time. There are billions of PCs and many would survive even a massive asteroid impact, but what about the CDs? In a thousand years would our record be nothing but a collection of Doom3 and Dune2000 games?
Well, I am not sure about that. I was reading 'History of Warfare' by British military historian Keegan(?). He mentioned it in the book.
I might do a little Altai history digging for myself when I get a chance.
John Keegan is a fantastic writer, by the way. He and John Toland are a couple of the reasons I got into my field, and am now working on three books.
That's the tree of life. Stephen Oppenheimer covers it extensively in his book, Out Of Eden.
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