BRONZE ANTHROPOMORPHIC STATUES OF THE SANXINGDUI AND RITUAL GARMENTS OF THE ANCIENT SHU KINGDOM

Abstract

The article is dedicated to fi ndings belonging to the Sanxingdui culture of the Bronze Age from the Sichuan province of the People’s Republic of China - anthropomorphic statues discovered in sacrifi cial pit JK2 at an eponymous site. The author refers to full-size human fi gures at least 50 cm in height (as opposed to body parts, e.g. heads), assembled from pre-cast elements, as “statues”. He proposes to referrer to smaller items cast in a single step as “fi gurines”. The evolution of anthropomorphic statues can be subdivided into two or three stages. The fi nal stage is represented by a bronze statue of a man standing on a pedestal. It was preceded by the stage of wooden anthropomorphic statues with bronze overlays. Their predecessors could be primitive sculptures crafted entirely from wood. The structural features of Sanxingdui bronze anthropomorphic statues allow to link the period of their existence with the period of bronze masks of A and C types and bronze “Spirit Trees” No. 2 and No. 1, as they were crafted using the same techniques. The human fi gure with talons on the toes clenching anguiform creatures with bird heads is suggested to be interpreted on the basis of the Ancient Indian Garuda mythology. The statue with a zoomorphic headdress is considered as an illustration of the myth concerning the master of Sanxingdui underworld. An assumption that the items clenched in the toes of the statue of a man standing on a pedestal are jade Cong regalia is considered by the author as insufficiently justified.