3 thousand years old golden mask was found in China

Chinese archaeologists exploring the famous Sanxingdui pits have made more than 500 new finds, including a large golden mask about 3 thousand years old.

Archaeologists examined six previously unexplored sacrificial pits and found fragments of exquisite gold masks, gold foil, bronze masks, bronze sacred trees, ivory and ivory and ivory and jade, reports Xinhua.

The largest fragment of the golden mask surprised archaeologists with its large size compared to previous finds. It is about 23 cm wide, 28 cm high and weighs about 280 grams. The entire mask could weigh about 500 grams, scientists say. A preliminary check showed that the find contains about 84% gold.

Archaeologists have also found traces of decayed silk 3,000 years old. This is the earliest evidence of the use of silk in the Sanxingdui culture.

Sanxingdui is a late Neolithic and early Bronze Age archaeological culture discovered in the Chengdu region of China. In 1929, a local peasant found a cache of jade products in the vicinity of the town of Sanxingdui.