Master Archaeologist

Chapter 330 Fear is the driving force behind the existence of civilization
Under the action of the luminol reagent, after the lights were turned off, there was a clear light blue light in the dark laboratory!
This light blue light is not so conspicuous, at least when there is light in the room, it cannot be seen at all.

But at this time when you can't see your fingers and it's pitch black, it's very eye-catching!

Several researchers and Chen Han are a little excited!
"It's bright, it's bright!"

"Pale blue!"

"I didn't expect that bloodstains from 3000 years ago can be useful!"

"It's obvious, look, this area is turning blue!"

In the dark laboratory, several researchers and Chen Han could not see each other, it was really completely dark.

But everyone still communicated excitedly without hindrance.

This touch of blue is enough to prove that the red spots on the golden mask are most likely bloodstains!

Although the luminol reagent is only an iron ion reagent, which chemically interacts with the iron ions in the blood, it does not necessarily mean that the blood stains that have reacted.

After all, it is not only blood that carries iron ions.

but!

Iron ions that are directly dissociated outside are very rare.

In fact, through the test of luminol reagent, it can be basically confirmed that these red spots are blood stains.

Red, spot marks, can be affected by luminol reagent.

There are too many similar conditions, so it is infinitely close to the real thing!

"Okay, successfully completed a task!"

The lights were turned on again, and everyone in the laboratory applauded.

Chen Han also said with a smile: "In this way, there will be a new research direction on the sacrificial culture of the Sanxingdui people."

"The speckled appearance of these bloodstains is more like sputtering, which shows that during the sacrificial process, the Sanxingdui people should have performed an on-site killing ceremony!"

The so-called sputtering type is the trace left after the blood is ejected from the human body.

As we all know, the blood pressure inside the human body is not the same as the external air pressure.

So when a person's aorta is damaged, for example, the throat is cut, or the wrist is cut.

In fact, there will be no slow bleeding waiting to die like in the movie, but the blood will sputter out on a large scale, just like a fountain!
The shape and traces of the splashed blood on the object will obviously not be the same as the blood splashed on the ground.

Therefore, in the field of criminal investigation, it is common to speculate and restore the murder process based on the shape of the blood spatter at the murder scene.

And the red spots on the golden mask actually looked like sprayed blood.

This is why Zhuang Yunpeng and Chen Han guessed that it was blood when they saw the red spots.

Now it has been confirmed by modern scientific means that it is really blood.

In Chen Han's mind, a scene of the Sanxingdui people offering sacrifices had already emerged.

Hundreds of slaves, carrying countless bronze wares, came to the sacrificial pit that had already been dug, and then put bronze wares, gold wares, ivory, etc. into the sacrificial pit in order.

Moreover, during the process of placing these sacrifices, there will be a priest or high-ranking noble from the Sanxingdui civilization to hold a sacrificial ceremony next to the pit.

It is not clear what the process of the ceremony is like, but it is certain that one of the links should be that the prisoners of war or slaves should be pressed to the edge of the pit, beheaded or cut their throats.

Countless blood passed through the wounds on the corpse and was splashed into the sacrificial pit.

The civilians and nobles who were watching the sacrificial ceremony, not only had no fear, but cheered wildly and jumped for joy!

Because the sacrifice represents the strength of the tribe!
On the land of China 3000 years ago, the act of "sacrifice" was generally inseparable from wars and good harvests.

In the Shang Dynasty, large-scale sacrificial activities were usually carried out after going out to crusade against foreign enemies, or after returning from the crusade.

Sometimes when the harvest is great, the sacrifices will be announced to the ancestors!

As for the Sanxingdui civilization at the same time as the Shang Dynasty, it is obvious that their sacrificial culture should also be inseparable from wars or good harvests.

The eight sacrificial pits discovered so far are about the same age, with no more than 200 years of difference between the upper and lower.

In other words, in 200 years, there were only eight sacrifices, and some of them were big and some were small.

Small sacrificial pits are only a few square meters, and large sacrificial pits are more than ten square meters.

This shows that there are not many cases where the people of Sanxingdui can make such a solemn sacrifice, and it may only be done once in a few decades.

Otherwise, the people of Sanxingdui would not be so productive if they sacrificed like this every year, and they could make so many bronze and gold wares every year.

Chen Han himself speculated that at least the sacrifices in Pit No. [-] should have something to do with foreign wars.

Such blood-stained bronzes are not found in every pit.

Currently, only pits 2, 5, and 8 have such red-spotted offerings.

This shows that people in Sanxingdui may not sacrifice blood every time they sacrifice.

And under what circumstances does a sacrificial ceremony require blood sacrifice?

In terms of the consistent behavior of Chinese civilization, and even world civilization, blood sacrifices are generally only carried out when the expedition is successful.

The blood sacrifice during the expedition later evolved into a "sacrifice flag", which can strengthen the momentum of the army, let the soldiers see the blood first, and stimulate the excitement.

And the blood sacrifice after the victory is generally killing prisoners and offering sacrifices to the ancestors, in order to show the power of the tribe and show their merits to the ancestors!
This behavior has continued to later generations. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was still the act of offering captives to the emperor and then praying to the ancestors in the Taimiao!

Obviously, some of these sacrificial pits at the Sanxingdui site were sacrificial acts related to conquering foreign enemies.

Perhaps it is to worship ancestors and gods before going out to the battle, and pray that they can bless the war with success.

It is also possible to come back to worship the ancestors after the victory, tell the ancestors the news of their victory, and send sacrifices!

These behaviors were not uncommon in the business culture of the same period.

You don't even need to learn from business culture. It can be said that primitive civilizations in various areas of the world have spontaneously committed such bloody behaviors.

This should be a kind of behavior that is born naturally since the self-development of human beings.

The driving force behind this behavior is "fear".

Yes, fear is actually the driving force that drove ancient humans to perform sacrifices.

Because of fear of death in battle, fear of starvation due to lack of food, and fear of the world after death, ancient and ignorant human beings pinned these fears on illusory beliefs.

There is ancestor worship, and there is god worship.

The purpose is to eliminate these fears in my heart and seek a "blessing".

It is also because of the fear of failure that the people of Sanxingdui will sacrifice extensively before going out to battle, and if they win, they will regard this victory as the blessing of their ancestors and gods, and then offer sacrifices to thank their ancestors and gods again!
This is how these large-scale sacrificial areas come into existence!

(End of this chapter)