3 . Six “sacrificial pits(祭祀坑)”, dating back 3,200 to 4,000 yeas, were newly discovered in Sanxingdui Ruins site in Guanghan. Over 500 artifacts, including gold masks, bronze wares, ivories, jades and textiles were unearthed from the site. Sanxingdui site is located in Sanxingdui Town, Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, on the south bank of Qianjiang River (Yangtze River), a tributary of Tuojiang River in the north of Chengdu Plain. The site covers an area of about 12 square kilometers, and the core area is the ancient city of Sanxingdui, with an area of about 3.6 square kilometers. It is the largest and highest-grade central site found in Sichuan Basin during the Xia and Shang period.
Sanxingdui site, first found in 1929, is generally considered as one of the most important archaeological sites along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. However, the work of excavation on the site only began in 1986, when two pits — widely believed for sacrificial ceremonies — were accidentally discovered.
Investigation in the area around No.1 and 2 pits was relaunched in October 2019, and No.3 pit was found in December 2019, according to Lei Yu, a researcher of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute who heads the ongoing excavation. Thirty four research universities and research institutes have cooperated in this project. He said the new discoveries will help to better understand many unexplained findings in 1986.
More excavation followed in March 2020, and five more pits were found last year. And detailed research began in October. Excavation capsules with hi-tech equipment were set up in the pits in order to prevent the site from further damage.
According to the National Cultural Heritage Administration, studies of Sanxingdui site will become a crucial project in an ongoing program Archaeology China, which tries to explain the origins of Chinese civilization and how diverse cultures communicate and come together.
1. What does the underlined word “excavation” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A.Check. | B.Dig. | C.Protection. | D.Extension. |
2. How did archaeologists protect the Sanxingdui site?
A.By conducting more experiments around the site. |
B.By dividing the task of excavation into several parts. |
C.By cooperating with research universities and institutes. |
D.By using excavation capsule armed with hi-tech equipment. |
3. What can we infer about the pits from the text?
A.There are 6 sacrificial pits discovered in Sanxingdui site in all. |
B.The size of the core zone is about 1/3 of Sanxingdui site. |
C.The discovery of Sanxingdui site only began in 2019. |
D.All sacrificial sites were discovered in the meantime. |
4. What is the text mainly about?
A.Sanxingdui site needed protecting. |
B.Hi-tech helped to explore Sanxingdui site. |
C.Sanxingdui discoveries reveal ancient China. |
D.Sacrificial pits were unearthed in Sanxingdui site. |