CHENGDU, June 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,000 significant relics have been unearthed from new sacrificial pits at the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins site in southwest China.

Revered as one of the greatest archeological finds of the 20th century, the Sanxingdui Ruins entered a new era of excavation work starting from the second half of last year, which mainly involves its No. 3 to No. 8 sacrificial pits.

Riveting relics including bronzewares, ivories, jade, gold foils and stone tools were uncovered during recent archaeological digs.

Notably, a unique bronze figure with a square altar-shaped bronzeware held up in its hands and an extremely rare bronze ware 115 cm in height were among the most head-turning discoveries.

The Sanxingdui Ruins were discovered by a farmer when digging a ditch in the 1920s. Covering 12 square km, the ruins are in the city of Guanghan in Sichuan Province, about 60 km from Chengdu, the provincial capital, and are believed to be the remnants of the Shu Kingdom, dating back at least 4,800 years and lasting over 2,000 years.

In 1986, 1,720 unique relics were unearthed in the No. 1 and No. 2 pits, arousing global interest. In October 2019, archaeologists discovered six new sacrificial pits while investigating the area where the No. 1 and No. 2 pits are located.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service