Photo: Screenshot from website.

Chinese archeologists have successfully unearthed the largest animal bronze ware ever seen - a mythical beast one meter tall, one meter long and weighing more than 300 grams - at the Sanxingdui Ruins in Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday.

The bronze statue looks like a mythical beast with a large mouth, slender waist and four hoofs. Of note, a human figure wearing a long gown stands on the head of the beast. Researchers theorize that it may depict that the person is riding or controlling the beast, China Central Television reported.

Zhao Hao, the researcher in charge of the excavation, explained that since excavation of the Sanxingdui Ruins first started in 1986, all the animal wares have been small, around 20-30 centimeters long, but the discovery of the new bronze statue sets a new record, and as of now, is the only large-sized animal statue.

The chest of the beast also sports the image of a sacred tree. 
"This tree was directly cast on the beast. The image reflects the fact that the Sanxingdui people worshiped trees or regarded trees as a kind of divine thing," Zhao said.

So far, nearly 14,000 cultural relics have been extracted from the sacrificial pits at Sanxingdui, according to a report from the Guangming Daily.