在香港一家不起眼的古董店后室里，瑞士考古学家吉诺·卡斯帕里伪装成买家调查黑市时，发现了一件疑似三星堆面具。三星堆面具形象重睑厚唇，距今约3,500年，出土于中国西南祭祀坑，并有部分被列为“一级国宝”，受到严格出境管制。

这件面具的关键异常是眼部为“填充眼”，与已知三星堆面具明显不同，这一特征提升了其真实性判断并可能推动学术认知。文中也提示伪造者通常会直接复制现有文物，这一点强化了该样本的研究价值。

自2012年以来，中国通过拍卖和外交途径追回超过2,300件文物，美国单独归还了600件走私文物流入的文物，约占回收总量的26%。与此同时，富裕中国买家把收藏古董作为“财富+爱国”的双重展示，推高了中国古董价格，体现出明显需求端与政策端同向抬升的趋势。

In the back room of an unassuming Hong Kong antiques shop, Swiss archaeologist Gino Caspari, posing as a buyer while probing the city’s black market, discovered a purported Sanxingdui mask. Sanxingdui faces are heavy-lidded and thick-lipped, dated to about 3,500 years ago from sacrificial pits in southwest China, and those graded as “first-class national treasures” are subject to strict export controls.

The mask is notable for its filled-in eyes, a feature unlike most known Sanxingdui pieces, which supports authenticity and could materially advance archaeological understanding. The report also notes forgers usually copy known artifacts, making this divergence a meaningful clue.

Since 2012, China has recovered more than 2,300 items through auctions and diplomacy, while the United States alone returned 600 smuggled artifacts, about 26% of that total. At the same time, wealthy Chinese buyers treating antiquities as a display of prosperity and patriotism have sharply raised domestic prices, a trend consistent with Xi Jinping’s 2022 statement that relics carry the nation’s “genes and blood.”

Source: Treasure island

Subtitle: HONG KONG A haven for looted Chinese artefacts

Dateline: The Economist May 2nd 2026