Sanxingdui Ruins were discovered accidentally by a farmer; has since been the site of over 60K relics

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Sanxingdui Ruins is an archaeological site located in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The site has undergone heavy exploration through the years, with thousands of notable artifacts coming out of excavations. 

The Sanxingdui Ruins lie in Guanghan City. The site was first discovered in 1929 by a farmer who came across jade and stone artifacts while repairing a sewage ditch, according to Live Science. It was not until 1934 that an official scientific excavation commenced, according to China Daily. 

Since that first excavation, research and discovery has continued at the site. During the 1980s, the excavation of two pits was conducted, where over 1,000 artifacts were unearthed, according to China Daily. Those finds included figurines, human face masks and more. 

Thousands of valuable ancient discoveries have come from the Sanxingdui Ruins. There is a museum dedicated to the ancient finds in Guanghan City. (Liu Kun/Xinhua via Getty Images I Xinhua/Li He via Getty Images I Wang Xi/Xinhua via Getty Images)

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Between 2019 and 2020, six more pits were excavated, according to the source, with more than 500 artifacts uncovered, including seashells, silk, ritual bronze vessels and gold masks. 

There has been an abundance of notable finds from the troves of artifacts discovered at the Sanxingdui Ruins. Among more recent discoveries, gold masks have been among the significant finds at the site. 

For example, in September 2022, it was announced by China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration that a 3,000-year-old gold mask was discovered at the site among royal tombs. 

Gold masks have been among the many notable finds that have come out of the archaeological site. (Tang Wenhao/Xinhua via Getty Images)

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The ancient mask dated back to the Shang Dynasty, ARTNews reported at the time, and predated another gold mask that was found the fall before at the Sanxingdui Ruins.

In 2021, a complete gold mask weighing about 100 grams was unearthed at the site, according to China’s Xinhua News Agency. The gold mask was larger, but weighed less than another fragment of a gold mask that was found at the site earlier on in 2021, according to the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute. 

Since 2022, there have been more than 4,000 artifacts unearthed from the Sanxingdui Ruins, which include pottery, jadeware and stoneware, according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.

More exhibits at the Sanxingdui Museum have been inspired by the ancient artifacts found in excavations. (Tang Wenhao/Xinhua via Getty Images)

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To date, there have been over 60,000 relics found at the site, according to the source. 

The Sanxingdui Ruins is widely acknowledged as one of the “world’s greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century,” according to China’s Xinhua News Agency. Experts believe that the Sanxingdui Ruins are the remains of the ancient Shu Kingdom.

The Sanxingdui Museum first opened its doors in 1997, though it has been expanded since, and has provided an opportunity for visitors to see first hand many of the artifacts that have been found at the archaeological site through the years. 

Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital.