⑥Bronze head with gold foil

Covered with gold foil, the bronze head looks dignified and extraordinary. Its round head is decorated with hairpin bundle style, and its long face and wide chin were all covered by a layer of gold foil. Gold was recognized as a symbol of status in ancient Shu civilization. Among more than 50 bronze heads unearthed before 2021, only 4 of them wore gold masks, which were all discovered in No.2 sacrifice pit. This gorgeous bronze head with gold foil was one of them. It can be seen that it is rather precious.

In details, this round bronze head is 22.4cm in width and 45.8cm in height. Regarding the concave outline of the face, it has originally been cast with a one-piece copper mask which covers to the top of the head except the center of the head. A thin golden mask is attached with the inner copper mask, and only the parts of the right forehead and left face still remain. The outside mask is made by golden flakes which were compressed from nugget. By using the handmade adhesive which was a mixture of raw lacquer and lime, this golden mask was firmly attached to the surface of the bronze head, covering the part between forehead and neck. The golden mask also covers both ears which are pierced while shows both of eyes and eyebrows as hollow looking. There is a hairpin on the back of the bronze head, and its upper and lower parts are both incomplete.

The gold has always been a symbol of power for thousands of years, the dazzling gold highlights the honorable status of a person. This bronze heads with gold foil from Sanxingdui has been possibly used for sacrifices. It is generally believed that such bronze statue with golden decoration represents the highest status in the society at that time, it vividly portrayed those people who could decide the life and death of other people at will and have the ability to communicate with gods.