3,000-year-old silk

 

Scientists discover 3,000-year-old silk at China’s mysterious Sanxingdui ruins


hinese archaeologists say they have discovered silk at the Sanxingdui ruins for the first time, and they believe the treasured textile was used 3,000 years ago in rituals to “communicate between heaven and earth”.

According to the researchers, the discovery sheds light on the cultural origins of silk and the religious beliefs of the ancient Shu people, who lived in what is now Sichuan province. “The presence of silk residues detected in the Sanxingdui sacrificial pits … provides archaeological evidence of the Southwest Silk Road, confirming that silk was already used in the ancient Shu state more than 3,000 years ago,” the team wrote in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports last month.

The team includes researchers from the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, the Sanxingdui Research Institute and the Sanxingdui Museum in Sichuan. Silk, a precious commodity in China, was instrumental in the creation of the Silk Road – the first global trade route linking China with the West, through which ancient peoples exchanged merchandise, knowledge and culture.

Sanxingdui, the capital of the ancient Shu state, had a long history of silkworm cultivation, or sericulture, and silk weaving – industries that were vital to its economy. The researchers noted that many historical records about sericulture in ancient China mention Shu state.

However, it has been difficult for scientists to pinpoint where silk was invented because its fibres degrade during burial and over time. The team said no silk or silk residue had previously been found at Sanxingdui. The team developed a new technique to identify mineralised textiles and their remnants. The researchers enriched silk residues found in archaeological samples with a substance to help make the fibres easier to detect.

They found traces of silk that had been incinerated attached to the surface of bronze and jade items unearthed from the Sanxingdui sacrificial pits. The researchers wrote that their method could be used to detect other materials, such as fur, that had been used in the past but “have now become invisible archaeological remains”. They found that a grid-like, silk-covered object dug up at the Sanxingdui site was similar in shape to an item described in ancient records about how the legendary Emperor Yao, who ruled China 5,000 years ago, passed the throne to Emperor Shun.

Legend has it the order to pass the throne was conveyed by a divine turtle on behalf of the emperor of heaven. “So the silk remnants on the surface of the jade and grid-like ware can be surmised to have been the material carriers of communication between Heaven and Earth,” the paper states.

The archaeologists also noted that silk was used as a burial clothing, citing the Book of Rites, or Liji, an ancient Confucian text. It was believed that wrapping bodies in silk created an artificial cocoon that could help the souls of the dead ascend to heaven.


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