The Palace Museum on Tuesday announced that it is showcasing dozens of artifacts recently unearthed from Sichuan dating between 2,600 and 4,500 years ago.

The museum, along with two cultural museums in Sichuan, is co-organising the exhibition to feature 120 bronze, jade, gold, and ceramic objects excavated from sites in Sanxingdui, Jinsha and Baodun in Sichuan.

Around half of the exhibits were discovered only in the last three years, and some
are being shown for the first time outside of Sichuan.

One of the relics is a 65-kilogramme bronze mask with big eyes – a distinctive feature among archaeological finds from Sanxingdui.

"The big eyes on the masks must mean something. So we hope the visitors will look them in the eye to try to interpret them," said Tianlong Jiao, head curator of the Palace Museum.

The exhibition will explore the art, urban life, spiritual world, and development of ancient culture in Sichuan.

The "Gazing at Sanxingdui" exhibition will run from Wednesday to January 8.