While digging, a thumping sound was heard, as soon as the soil was removed, my heart shuddered, ‘alien’s eye’ was seen peeping!

China’s Sichuan province is known for its lush green mountains and rivers. Everything was normal in Chengdu city. But something happened in 1986, which changed everything. Here workers were digging on the river bank. Suddenly a thumping sound came from the soil, as if someone was hitting an ax on metal. When the soil was removed out of curiosity, everyone was left heartbroken.

Bronze mask found out during excavation. This mask had big bulging eyes. There were pointed ears and a wide mouth. It seemed as if an alien’s eyes were peeping. The workers ran and called archaeologists. When the excavation of the nearby Kap area started, what was found changed history. This place was Sanxingdui (Three Star Mound) i.e. the capital of the ancient Shu Kingdom.

ancient civilization was hidden
In this excavation, more than 200 jade weapons, more than 60 elephant tusks, bones of burnt animals and most sensationally – dozens of large bronze masks and heads were found. These masks were so strange that scholars called them the “ninth wonder of the world”. The largest mask in this was 1.32 meters wide and 0.72 meters high. A human being could not wear this mask. It had protruding eyes 16.5 cm outside, triangular pupils and wing-like ears. These masks looked alien or supernatural, so memes went viral on social media – “Did aliens land here?” But scientists say, these were religious symbols of the ancient Shu people. The masks were mounted on wooden totems, perhaps to represent the dead or gods. Some were coated with gold foil which was made of 84% gold. Its weight was 280 grams. In total, more than 13,000 artefacts were recovered from the eight pits.

The discovery became mysterious
In this excavation, bronze Tree of Life (4 meters high), snake-dragon figures, jade blades, and traces of silk were found. Everything was broken and burnt as if it had been ritually sacrificed. Carbon dating revealed that these belonged to 1600-1046 BC, i.e. 3,000-3,600 years old. The Shu Kingdom was isolated from the Yellow River Valley (the cradle of Chinese civilization). There was no written record of it, but the bronze casting technology was so advanced that it was superior to the Terracotta Army of Xi’an. New excavations in 2020-2022 yielded six more pits in which 500+ relics were found. The pieces of gold masks, ivory carvings, bronze animals surprised everyone. A hybrid tiger-dragon figure was found with black paint on it. But the mystery remains as to why the Shu Kingdom suddenly disappeared? The city flourished until 800 BC, then shifted to the Jinsha site (in Chengdu). The reason might have been flood or war. This discovery re-wrote Chinese history. Earlier it seemed that civilization was only on the Yellow River, but Sanxingdui showed that the Yangtze Valley was also equally advanced. Now this place is in the UNESCO Tentative List. All the discoveries are kept in the museum where lakhs of visitors come.