Bronze statues from the sacrificial pit of Sanxingdui

This article presents a brief review and analysis of one of the most interesting features of the Sanxingdui Bronze Age culture, which is widespread in the Sichuan province of the PRC - bronze anthropomorphic statues, found in the sacrificial pit JK2. The authors refer to full-size human figures at least 50 cm tall (but not their parts, e.g. heads) assembled from pre-cast details, as «statues». Smaller items cast in one go, they propose to call «figurines»”. The ways of production of anthropomorphic statues are described; they are linked to one of the stages of technological evolution of Sanxingdui bronze casting, and myths and rituals reflected by anthropomorphic statues are discussed. There are three bronze anthropomorphic statues from Sanxingdui, all three found in the sacrificial pit JK2: a big statue of a man standing on a pedestal, the upper part of a human figure with zoomorphic headdress, and the lower part of a skirt-dressed human figure with bird talons instead of feet, holding two snake-like creatures. Long ears and trunk (or horn) on top of the zoomorphic headpiece and hands of the upper part of the human figure were precast and inserted into the intentionally left holes of the main pour (body, head and headdress) cast in a two-sectional mould. After that, precast details were soldered in place with cover pour. Two snake-like creatures with birds’ heads were precast and brazed to precast feet with birds’ talons, and the latter were fixed in the mould for casting of the lower part of the skirt-dressed human figure. The method of casting of the human figure with zoomorphic headdress and bronze masks of A and C types is the same. The skirt-dressed human figure with talons was produced in the same way as bronze «spirit trees» No. 2 and No. 1. They all belong to stage II of the technological evolution of Sanxingdui bronze casting. The skirt-dressed human figure with talons closely resembles representations of Garuda - a personage of Indian mythology. The whole composition may illustrate one of the two episodes, described in ancient Indian epic « Mahabharata ». In one case, Garuda has transported his half-brothers Naga serpents to a nice island amidst the ocean. Another story tells of how Garuda has stolen the elixir of immortality Amrita for Naga, after tearing to pieces two dragons that guarded it, with his talons. The zoomorphic headdress on top of the head of a human figure copies the head of a fictional animal from the lowest level of the so-called «sacred altar», also found in the JK2 sacrificial pit. It may depict the Lord of the Underworld in his anthropomorphic form, or be the evidence of the existence of a ritual in Sanxingdui, resembling Japanese Gigaku theatre or Cham performance, with this personage as its main hero.