Golden_Sun_Bird
Golden Sun Bird
Ancient Chinese artifact
The Golden Sun Bird, or the Sun and Immortal Birds Gold Ornament (simplified Chinese: 太阳神鸟金饰; traditional Chinese: 太陽神鳥金飾; pinyin: Tàiyáng Shénniǎo Jīnshì), is an ancient artifact, unearthed in 2001 at Jinsha archaeological site located in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.[1]
It is a ring-shaped piece of foil, made of nearly pure gold. The pattern consists of four birds, flying in the same counterclockwise direction, located around the perimeter. The center is a sun pattern with twelve points. It is 12.5 cm in diameter, with a 5.29 cm inner diameter. It has a thickness of 0.02 cm, and weighs 20 grams.[2]
The piece dates back to the late Sanxingdui period (around 1200–1050 BCE), and is now located in the Jinsha Museum, Chengdu.