【Period of Use】Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1300 BCE — 1000 BCE)【Dimensions】Bronze masks range from 15 cm to 138 cm in width and 15 cm to 66 cm in height. The largest measures 138 cm wide and 66 cm tall.【Regions of Use】The Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan Province — the core area of the ancient Shu civilization.【Story】A shamanic ceremony in which the officiant would incise the mask's divine eyes with a blade, symbolizing the opening of the eyes to communicate with the gods. The ancient Shu firmly believed that the divine gaze was the conduit between the human and spirit realms; the rites of incising, dedicating, and sacrificing the eyes were precisely the process of awakening the deity and opening the celestial vision.【Functions】1.Ritual deity effigies — masks and heads representing deified ancestors or gods, placed on temple altars to receive offerings.2.Shamanic instruments for spirit communication — the exaggerated protruding eyes likely represent the shaman‘s “divine vision” during trance states, used to bridge the human and spirit worlds.3.Burial after liao sacrifice — following ritual ceremonies, masks and heads were systematically smashed, burned, and buried in sacrificial pits, completing the ritual sequence of “offering，destruction，interment.”