A discovery by archaeologists in Southwest China's Sichuan Province looks set to prove the city of Chengdu is 700 years older than previously thought.

Since February 8, more than 1,000 artifacts made of gold, jade, bronze and stone, and nearly one ton of ivory have been excavated in Jinsha Village in the city's western suburbs.

Archaeologists from the State Cultural Relics Bureau have hailed the Jinsha ruins as one of Sichuan's most important archaeological findings.

Relics from the ruins include a gold mask, frog- and horn-shaped gold ornaments, jade tablets, jade swords, a bronze statue in a standing position, bronze bells, and stone statues of tigers, snakes and tortoises.

The discovery of Jinsha ruins suggest that rulers of the Shu Kingdom (Shu was the ancient name for Sichuan) established their political and cultural center in Chengdu more than 3,000 years ago, said Wang Yi, director of the Chengdu Archaeological Team.

As some of the relics from the Jinsha ruins bear resemblance to those from the Sanxingdui ruins in Guanghan, 40 kilometers from Chengdu, some archaeologists consider the two are closely related.

According to Yu Weichao, deputy director of the China Society of Archaeology, the Jinsha ruins most likely became the political and cultural center of the Shu Kingdom after the fall of the Sanxingdui civilization.

It is believed after the civilization suddenly collapsed, the Shu king moved from Sanxingdui to Chengdu.

The Sanxingdui ruins, which were discovered in 1929 by a farmer working in his field, belong to the ancient Shu Kingdom and can be dated back between 3,000 and 5,000 years.

Over time the ruins were home to several independent ancient civilizations. Jade ornaments with unique characteristics made by advanced techniques for the time were discovered at the site, suggesting that the first civilization to live in the area about 3,700 to 5,000 years ago interacted with the groups living on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The second civilization to inhabit Sanxingdui, which made use of bronze, was a dominant power in the Shu Kingdom. The ruins serve as convincing proof that the origins of Chinese civilization are diverse, said Chen De'an, an archaeologist from the Sichuan archeological team.

(China Daily 04/05/2001)