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Millennia-old bronze horse gear reflects ancient imagination of sea
Updated: Jul 14, 2026
China Bound
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At first glance, the artifacts look like real ray fish gliding through the sea — but they're actually bronze ornaments from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). With a flat, fan-like body and a knob on the underside, they were once part of ancient horse-and-chariot gear: the larger piece adorning a horse's forehead, with the smaller one connecting leather straps on the bridle.
Discovered in Chaoyang, Liaoning province, and now housed in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, they capture how ancient people observed and imagined the marine world thousands of years ago.
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