Archaeologists at the Sanxingdui site in China's Sichuan province have excavated a stunning bronze disk featuring intricate engravings of a celestial map. The map depicts 27 distinct sectors that correspond precisely to the Nakshatras (Lunar Mansions) found in ancient Indian astronomy. The artifact was recovered from Pit 10, a newly identified ritual cache filled with ivory and gold-leaf ornaments.
This discovery suggests that the bronze-age Shu civilization shared a sophisticated cosmological framework with ancient India. Researchers believe this is proof of an early 'Highland Silk Road' that facilitated the exchange of advanced astronomical and metallurgical knowledge across the Himalayas long before the Han Dynasty.