According to the Oriental Morning Post, a large dragon-shaped pendant coated with turquoise flakes that dates back to at least 3,700 years ago was recently discovered at the palace complex in the Erlitou site in Henan's Yanshi County. It was unearthed with the endeavor of cultural relic protection technologists of the Science and Technology Center of the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IACASS).
Dr. Xu Hong, leader of the Erlitou Fieldwork Team of IACASS, said that the dragon-shaped pendant was 64.5 centimeters in length and 4 centimeters in maximum width in the middle part. Its huge work, exquisite workmanship and large dimension make it a very rare one among China's ancient dragon-shaped cultural relics, with relatively high historic, artistic and scientific value.
Sources said that when excavated, the dragon-shaped turquoise pendant was laid on the tomb owner's skeleton between shoulder and hipbone. The pendant consists of more than 2,000 turquoise flakes of various shapes. Each flake has a dimension ranging from 0.2 cm to 0.9 cm and a thickness of about 0.1 cm.
(Chinanews.com June 22, 2005)
