Extremely valuable gold mask pushes knowledge of China's history

The more than 3,000-year-old gold mask was discovered in a rich nobleman's tomb during an archaeological excavation in Zhengzhou Shang City in central China's Henan Province. It is the first Shang Dynasty gold mask ever discovered and the only full-face mask of its kind.

The mask was part of more than 200 items of luxurious funerary equipment in a large tomb belonging to a Shang dynasty nobleman (c. 1600 BC - 1046 BC). The tomb itself is about 1 hectare in size (practically the size of a block in New York City). The artifacts found within are of the highest quality and are the most diverse of all the tombs in this burial site. It concealed a total of 20 bronze and 11 jade objects, five gold artifacts, 50 arrowheads, more than 120 shells, and plaques of gold foil inlaid with turquoise.

The main find, a gold mask measuring approximately 18.3 cm x 14.5 cm, weighs an impressive 40 grams. Its dimensions would completely cover the face of an adult. According to archaeologists, it was an expression of the Chinese religious concept that gold provides the body with perfect protection. It was meant to keep the energy of the deceased's spirit from dissipating.

The discovery suggests that the belief in an "invincible golden body" dates back at least to the Shang dynasty, although few gold objects have been discovered at its sites. The only other notable gold artefact at Zhengzhou was a thin piece of gold foil from a pit containing the remains of sacrificed dogs at the eastern end of the northern part of the city wall.

Experts are now investigating whether the "gold culture" of the early Shang Dynasty spread from the Central Plains to the southwesternPad to the Sanxingdui site, where huge quantities of large and heavy artfully crafted bronze and gold artifacts have been found in the sacrificial pits.

"The tomb is an important find for research on Shang dynasty burial rituals and systems. And because it dates from a very early period of the dynasty, it may provide new insights into the origins of Chinese civilization," Chen Lüsheng, a distinguished scholar at the National Museum of China, told the Global Times. "Although this gold mask is older than those discovered in the Sanxingdui ruins, we still need more evidence and mostmore archaeological discoveries to confirm a direct link between the Shang and Sanxingdui ruins," Chen said.

Roman Nemec

Sources: globaltimes.cn, thehistoryblog,com