In 1986, Chinese archaeologists working at Sanxingdui (or “Three Star Mound”) in Sichuan Province, China, made a dramatic discovery that threw the received narrative of Chinese history into great confusion.

The archaeologists excavated two large pits that contained many objects, including monumental bronze figures of humans and imaginary creatures, jade ritual pieces, and elephant tusks, all dating from the second millennium BC. Prior to these discoveries, historians thought that only the simplest Neolithic settlements existed at this time in Sichuan.

This lecture by Suzanne Cahill, Ph.D., curator of China’s Lost Civilization: The Mystery of Sanxingdui, an exhibition at the Bowers Museum that brings many of these objects to the U.S. for the first time, explores the many provocative questions these materials suggest.