A collection of 27 newly discovered bronze items discovered by chance in Baoji, Shaanxi Province are on show at China Millennium Monument.
The find by five local farmers hit the headlines around the country. The pieces, which include vessels for rituals, date back to the late period of the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-771 BC) more than 2,700 years ago.
The discovery excited archaeologists who believe it could shed new light on China's ancient history. Some of the pieces include inscriptions which record the most detailed information of its kind found to date.
There are more than 4,000 legible Chinese characters on the pieces.
The primary decoding of the inscriptions reveal that they records the accomplishments of 12 kings of the Zhou Dynasty and eight generations of the family Shan, the owner of the items who were apparently favorites of the king of the time.
To ordinary people, the bronze items are as much a wonder of human talent as historical relics pf archaeological significance.
Despite being buried for thousands of years, most of are just lightly rusty and the original color of the metal is clear to see. The designs and decorative patterns are surprisingly complicated.
Vivid traces of human usage have been detected on them.
Time/date: 9 am-4:30 pm until April 10
Location: 9A Fuxing Lu
Tel: 6857-3281
(Beijing Weekend March 26, 2003)
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