Hong Kong Palace Museum to showcase bronze heads, mythical creature relics unearthed at mainland China’s Sanxingdui ruins
- Exhibition featuring 120 items from archaeological site in Sichuan province to be displayed for first time outside mainland China
- Highlights include gigantic bronze mask, statue of mythical creature and gold face covering, all of which are thousands of years old
A gigantic bronze mask, a statue of a mythical creature, a dragon-shaped object and a gold face covering are among 120 national treasures set to be shown in Hong Kong, after being unearthed recently at an archaeological site in mainland China.
The Hong Kong Palace Museum on Wednesday provided details of the show titled “Gazing at Sanxingdui: new archaeological discoveries in Sichuan”, which will run for 3½ months from September 27 this year to January 8, 2024, also marking the National Day celebrations on October 1.
The 120 artefacts comprise bronze, jade, gold and pottery objects dating as far back as 4,500 years, among mostly new discoveries at the Sanxingdui archaeological site in the city of Guanghan in Sichuan province. The finds have been shrouded in mystery as no language has been identified on the artefacts and no other discoveries have looked similar.
One in every five artefacts to be shown in Hong Kong is deemed a grade one national treasure, the highest rank afforded to such relics.
Archaeologists believe the relics belong to the Shu kingdom that arose during the Shang dynasty.
Nearly half of the artefacts to be shown at the museum were unearthed between 2020 and 2022, with most having never been shown outside the country.
