The Image of the “Lord of the Underworld” in Sanxingdui Ritual Bronzes

Abstract

A bronze fantasy beast and human figure in a zoomorphic headdress were discovered in 1986 at the JK2 sacrificial pit of the Sanxingdui site. It belongs to the Bronze Age culture spread in the Sichuan province of the PRC. Peculiarities of construction and methods of production of the bronze anthropomorphic statue from Sanxingdui were the same as A and C type bronze masks and bronze “spirit trees” no. 2 and no. 1, meaning they all belonged to the same time. The fantasy beast mentioned above stood at the lowest tier of the so-called “sacred altar”, which was the “model of the world” of ancient inhabitants of Sanxingdui. They could think of him as the chthonic “Lord of the Underworld”. The results of new excavations at Sanxingdui in 2020–2022 are briefly mentioned. The plan and relative chronology of six newly discovered sacrificial pits are examined. The discussion of Chinese researchers about their nature is observed. The stratigraphy of new sacrificial pit JK8 is investigated in detail. Fantasy beasts of the same pedigree as in the JK2 sacrificial pit, which were found in newly discovered sacrificial pits JK3 and JK8 are described in detail. The beginning of depicting masks on bronze heads of A and C types is considered. The author argues that the bronze statue in a zoomorphic headdress from the JK2 sacrificial pit could represent the image of the “Lord of the Underworld” of Sanxingdui in his anthropomorphic form.