natural disasters (evidence of massive flooding and an earthquake were found), or invasion by another culture. The culture was governed by a strong central theocracy with trade links to bronze from Yin and ivory from Southeast Asia. Metallurgy This ancient culture had a well developed bronze casting industry that permitted the manufacture of many impressive articles, such as the world's oldest life-size standing human statue (260 cm high, 180 kg), and a bronze tree with birds, flowers, and ornaments (396 cm), which some have identified as renderings of the fusang tree of Chinese mythology. The Dawn Redwood also may be found relatively near on the eastern fringe of the Sichuan Basin. The most striking finds were dozens of large bronze masks and heads (at least six heads with gold foil masks originally attached) represented with angular human features, exaggerated almond-shaped eyes, some with protruding pupils, and large upper ears. Many Sanxingdui bronze faces had traces of paint smears: black on the disproportionately large eyes and eyebrows, and vermillion on the lips, nostrils, and ear holes. According to the French sinologist Corinne Debaine-Francfort, these colours provide evidence for ritual practices that were very different from those of the Shang dynasty. Vermillion is interpreted "not be coloring but something ritually offered for the head to taste, smell, and hear (or something that gave it the power to breathe, hear, and speak)". Based upon the design of these heads, archaeologists believe they were mounted on wooden supports or totems, perhaps dressed in clothing. Liu Yang concludes "masked ritual played a vital role in community life of the ancient Sanxingdui inhabitants", and he characterizes these bronze ritual masks as something that may have been worn by a shi () "personator, impersonator; ceremonial representative of a dead relative". The shi was generally a close, young relative who wore a costume (possibly including a mask) reproducing the features of the dead person. The shi was an impersonator, that is, a person serving as a reminder of the ancestor to whom sacrifice was being offered. During such a ceremony, the impersonator was much more than an actor in a drama. Although the exact meaning may have been different, the group of Sanxingdui masked figures in bronze all have the character of an impersonator. It is likely the masks were used to impersonate and identify with certain supernatural beings in order to effect some communal good. Another scholar