Bronze "sacred altars" and "spirit sanctuaries" from the sacrificial pits of Sanxingdui

This study considers the minor cultic bronzes, found in the sacrificial pits at the eponymous site of the Sanxingdui culture, widespread in the Sichuan province of PRC in the last third of 2nd millennium BC. So-called sacred “altars” and “spirit sanctuaries ” can give an information for reconstruction of some spheres in spiritual life of Sanxingdui ancient people. The analyzed “sacred altar” (or “spirit altar”) could be the model of creation system with three-five-part vertical divisions and four-part horizontal divisions, where the lower world was presented as a bilaminal structure: chthonian zoomorphic beast-overeater and treaded him under foot four spirits-patrons, probably associated with four corners of the Earth. The middle world, world of people, is the level of four “world” peaks, rested heads of “patrons”. The upper world is bilaminar in the same way as for lower world: the “heaven chamber ” on the hilltops with anthropomorphic kneeler figurines, probably representative the “spirits of ancestors ” of Sanxingdui live people, and the ornithomorphic heaven spirits or deities, floated above the “chamber”. The bronze “heaven chamber” permit to reconstruct the look of Sanxingdui temples - square (or rectangular) constructions under the roof with four sloping surfaces and with the large anthropomorphic sculptures. The small statue of kneeler man with the vessel under his head give an opportunity to make clear the common traits of such statues, which were created on the wooden base and fitted by plaques in the form of bronze masks and vessels, found in the sacrificial pit JK2. The figurine of the birdman from the attic of “heaven chamber ” helped to understand how the large flat bronze maskoids had been used - the series of them had been found in the JK2. They were used as the plaques for the carving or painting images of such birdman on the walls of real temple, remains of which are buried in the second sacrificial pit.