CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

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The three-holed jade object with animal heads
(cat. 17) provides additional evidence of two coexisting
artistic styles during the Hongshan culture. The
piece was found in disturbed earth, possibly from
the excavation of Tomb i at Sanguandianzi,
Lingyuan, Liaoning province, 2 although later publications
have amended the attribution to associate
it with Tomb 2. 3 The animal heads at each end were
initially identified representations of pigs and subsequently
identified as bears 4 (as were the heads of
the coiled dragons [cat. 10]); the shift may simply
reflect the archeologists' belief that the pig was not
as powerful or dignified a spirit as a bear. Whatever
the image the jade was intended to represent, its
style is realistic. Four small holes drilled at the base
of the jade would have served to attach it to another
object (now lost or disintegrated), perhaps by
mortise-type joinery. A similar object, recently
discovered, features human heads at the two ends. 5
Determining the function of these objects awaits
additional information. XY
1 Fang and Liu 1984, 2-4.
2 Li 1986, 501.
3 See, for example, Liaoning 199/d, 54.
4 Fang and Liu 1984, 2 - 4; Li 19863, 501.
5 Yang 1999, fig. 156.
92 LATE PREHISTORIC CHINA