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Archaeometallurgical Studies in China: Some Recent Developments and Challenging Issues

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Abstract

On the basis of a review of major researchachievementsover the past ten years, this paper discusses some challenging issues in current studies of ancient Chinese metallurgy, with a focus on the beginnings of bronze metallurgy in China, regional bronze technologies during the Shang dynasty, early developments of iron technology, emergence of lost-wax casting technology, manufacturing techniques of gold objects, and Qin metallurgy. It will also offer some observations on future directions for the study of ancient Chinese metallurgy.

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... Increasing emphasis on the social and cultural dimensions of metallurgical technologies in ancient China (Jin et al., 2017;Liu et al., 2020a;Mei, 2009;Mei et al., 2015) is often predicated on the acquisition of key resources such as copper, lead and tin in disparate regions. Shang dynasty (c. ...
... The presence of radiogenic lead in copper-based objects of south-west China, for example, has led some researchers (Jin et al., 2003(Jin et al., , 2017 to suggest that Yunnan and Sichuan were major suppliers of metal during the Shang dynasty rather than the mineral resources closer to smelting sites (e.g. Laoniupo and Huaizhenfang near Xi'an in Shaanxi province- Mei et al., 2015) in the Central Plains, such as metalliferous regions in the Zhongtiao and Taihang mountains in Shanxi and the Qinling mountains in Shaanxi (Shi, 1955;Saito et al., 2002) (Fig. 1). This scenario would require that highly radiogenic lead sources are rare in China and that lead ingots travelled from Yunnan to Sichuan and beyond, perhaps along with copper. ...
... Other researchers have identified compositional recipes of only the first type in both ritual and local objects (Cui & Wu, 2013). Furthermore, in addition to Cu-Sn-Pb and Cu-Sn alloys, unusual alloys, such as Cu-As, Cu-Sb and Cu-As-Ni, have been recovered at Hanzhong, a site contemporary with the Shang dynasty, in south-west Shaanxi Mei et al., 2009Mei et al., , 2015. Although these compositions may reflect either deliberate (by mixing ores) or accidental alloying at the sites, it must also be considered that instruments with different levels of precision, accuracy and detection limits, as well as misidentification of analytical peaks in spectrometry, can introduce inconsistencies into interpretations based on compositional measurements. ...
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Research into ancient Chinese metallurgy has flourished over recent years with the accumulation of analytical data reflecting the needs of so many archaeological finds. However, the relationship between technology and society is unlikely to be revealed simply by analysing more artefacts. This is particularly evident in the debates over the sources of metals used to manufacture the Chinese ritual bronzes of the Shang (c. 1500-1046 BCE), Western Zhou (c. 1046–771 BCE) and Eastern Zhou (c. 771–256 BCE) dynasties. This article recognises that approaches to analytical data often fail to provide robust platforms from which to investigate metallurgical technology within its wider social and cultural contexts. To address this issue, a recently developed multivariate approach is applied to over 300 Chinese ritual bronzes from legacy data sets and nearly 100 unearthed copper-based objects from Anyang and Hanzhong. Unlike previous investigations that have relied predominantly on interpreting lead isotope signatures, the compositional analyses presented here indicate that copper and lead used to manufacture the bronzes are derived from mining progressively deeper ores in the same deposits rather than seeking out new sources. It is proposed that interpretations of social, cultural and technological change predicated on the acquisition of metals from disparate regions during the Chinese Bronze Age may need to be revised.
... Specific reference of Indian iron objects, however, only goes back to the 12 th century BC, but many iron weapons, tools, and utensils were discovered at sites dated before the 6 th century BC (Tripathi 2015). The earliest date for Chinese iron objects has now been established as the 14 th century BC (Chen 2014;Mei et al 2015). Two iron objects were discovered at a well-preserved tomb in Chen Qí-Mó Gou (CQMG) and an improved 14 C dating method was used. ...
... For the Central Plains of China, this millennium started under the (Western) Zhou. As the Zhou dynasty began to break up by the early 8 th century BC, iron objects started to appear at multiple locations (Chen 2014;Mei et al 2015). Two wrought iron objects were unearthed from the Tianma-Qucun site in the 1980s, dated to the 8 th century BC. ...
... Occasionally, high C iron lumps resulted from bloomery since the Roman times (Scott 1991;Tylecote 1992). The Tianma-Qucun pig iron ball (Chen 2014;Mei et al 2015) appears to be of a similar origin. These lumps have mostly white cast iron structures (Navasaitis and Selskienė 2007). ...
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This chapter examines metallurgical developments related to bridge construction. Because of availability and cost, iron and steel have played the central role. We examine their roles and applications starting from ancient chain bridges of wrought iron, cast iron, and steel arch bridges, iron and steel truss bridges, wires and cables, and finally to spectacular long-span suspension and dazzling cable-stayed bridges. Introduction This chapter considers metallurgical developments that are related to bridge design and construction. Bridges are naturally of large scale, and iron and steels have been used as the principal components since antiquity. Common knowledge for engineers and historians includes the famous Iron Bridge in England, completed in 1779 (see Figure 1, reproduced from Nicholson 1829). It seems certain that this is the oldest iron arch bridge (Kostof 1985). Some argue that the completion of this bridge was the critical event for the Industrial Revolution, while others contend that Watt's steam engine in 1784 was the main impetus. Perhaps both contributed in tandem, multiplying their influence synergistically. From the metallurgical side, Abraham Darby's use of coke for pig iron production in 1709 represents an important step forward in allowing the construction of the Iron Bridge and for the rapid rise of the British steel industry (Cossons and Trinder 1979). The British Isles did not have an adequate supply of charcoal even in the 18 th century; for example, 70 wt % (from now on %) of its iron was imported from Russia and Sweden in 1770 (Ågren 1998). Yet, British iron production started to accelerate around 1780 (blue arrow), as shown in Figure 2 (data from Birch 1967 and Swank 1888). The history of iron bridges, however, takes us first to ancient times, long before the Industrial Revolution. A natural first place to examine the ancient metallurgy that enabled iron bridge building is in Asia, with a long tradition of constructing bridges. More recently, wires of ultra-high strength steels have been developed by the 1990s, making it possible to build long-span bridges. Advanced microstructural design at the nanoscale and modern fabrication methods are the keys to discover how we progressed from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.
... Specific reference of Indian iron objects, however, only goes back to the 12 th century BC, but many iron weapons, tools, and utensils were discovered at sites dated before the 6 th century BC (Tripathi 2015). The earliest date for Chinese iron objects has now been established as the 14 th century BC (Chen 2014;Mei et al 2015). Two iron objects were discovered at a well-preserved tomb in Chen Qí-Mó Gou (CQMG) and an improved 14 C dating method was used. ...
... For the Central Plains of China, this millennium started under the (Western) Zhou. As the Zhou dynasty began to break up by the early 8 th century BC, iron objects started to appear at multiple locations (Chen 2014;Mei et al 2015). Two wrought iron objects were unearthed from the Tianma-Qucun site in the 1980s, dated to the 8 th century BC. ...
... Occasionally, high C iron lumps resulted from bloomery since the Roman times (Scott 1991;Tylecote 1992). The Tianma-Qucun pig iron ball (Chen 2014;Mei et al 2015) appears to be of a similar origin. These lumps have mostly white cast iron structures (Navasaitis and Selskienė 2007). ...
Chapter
Full-text available
This chapter examines metallurgical developments related to bridge construction. Because of availability and cost, iron and steel have played the central role. We examine their roles and applications starting from ancient wrought iron chain bridges; cast iron and steel arch bridges; iron and steel truss bridges, wires, and cables; and finally to spectacular long-span suspension and dazzling cable-stayed bridges.
... It is generally believed that arsenic bronze represented a transitional stage between red bronze and tin bronze in a process from the origination of arsenic bronze metallurgy in the Near East in the 4th millennium BC (Frame 2010), to the gradual population of tin bronze in the 3rd millennium BC and then to the eventual replacement of arsenic bronze by tin bronze in the 2nd millennium BC. Although early use of arsenic bronze in China was mainly concentrated in the Northwest (Fitzgerald-Huber 1995;Mei et al. 2015) and arsenic bronze artifacts appeared in a scattered manner during the Longshan Period (ca. 24th to eighteenth centuries BC) in the Central Plains, the utilization of arsenic bronze had been rarely seen since the emergence of the technical systems of tin bronze and lead-tin-bronze smelt and cast artifacts during the Erlitou Period in the early 2nd millennium BC. ...
... Nonetheless, the new question is whether the origin of the arsenic bronze metallurgy and even red copper metallurgy technologies in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was related to Northwest China and the Central Plains. First of all, most scholars tended to associate the emergence of early metallurgy in the Central Plains with the pre-historic Silk Road (Fitzgerald-Huber 1995;Mei et al. 2015), and the earliest copper smelting relics in the lower reaches of Yangtze River found in Shigudun site was dated more than 3500 years and influenced by the Erlitou Culture from the Central Plains (Anhui Provincial Institute of Archaeology 2013). However, metallurgy relics of slag, bronze fragments, or malachite were also found in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (Chen 2012(Chen , 2018, for example, Luojiabailing site in Tianmen City, the 4th layer of Xiezidi site in Daye County, and the 8th layer of Dalupu site in Yangxin County, amid the transition from Shijiahe Culture to the Post-Shijiahe Culture (around 4000 years ago). ...
Article
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The Muyushan site in Tongling City is the largest site of metallurgical production during the Bronze Age in the lower reaches of Yangtze River in Southern Anhui, China. Twenty-two samples of slag collected are analyzed with SEM–EDS. The examinations indicate that the Cu-Sn and Cu-As alloys were obtained at the site. We further discuss the two-step smelting process of bronze production and the source of tin materials. The technological process and importance of arsenic bronze metallurgy here are also discussed. It is worth noting that the copper diamond-shaped ingots popular in the early stage of Southern Anhui also have a strong production signal in Muyushan area. The paper has an important academic value of studying the earlier metallurgy technology and the industrial pattern in the lower reaches of Yangtze River, pointing that the arsenic bronze still produced in the lower Yangtze area during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period (ca. 1100BC ~ 500 BC) is worthy of attention.
... The turn of the third to second millennia BC (i.e., c. 4000 BP) is a time when the western regions of the area currently within the People's Republic of China witnessed a number of radical changes in patterns of subsistence, organization of communities and general ways of life (see Womack et al., 2017;Yang et al., 2019aYang et al., , 2019b. A network of 'proto-Silk Roads' that began to emerge in the preceding millennium involved trade, exchange, and population movements and resulted in the gradual introduction of new technologies-including metallurgy and West Asian or Central Asian domesticates, such as wheat, barley, caprines, cattle and eventually horses-alongside the movement of ancient people (recent studies and summaries of these processes can be found in: Brunson et al., 2020;d'Alpoim Guedes & Bocinsky, 2018;Dong et al., 2017;Flad, 2017;Han, 2012;Jaang, 2015;Jaffe & Flad, 2018;Leipe et al., 2019;Lin, 2016;Lister et al., 2018;Liu et al., 2017;Long et al., 2018;Mei et al., 2015;Ventresca Miller & Makarewicz, 2019;Womack et al., 2021, among others). An apparent confluence of social and cultural developments coupled with the onset of cooler and drier conditions, sometimes termed the ' ~ 4.2 k BP event', has led scholars to assign a pivotal role to the effects of climate change on these processes across this broad region (e.g. ...
... In fact, connections and influences between these western regions and the traditional core have shaped studies of cultural developments in both areas (Jaffe & Hein, 2020). Examples of connections and influences are purported to have been found, archaeologically, in the styles of early bronze artifacts at Erlitou (Mei et al., 2015), and in textual data on Qiang captives, possibly brought from the west, and who were scarified by the Shang in the Central Plains (Xia, 1949;Hu, 1980)-a connection proposed through stable isotope studies as well (Cheung et al., 2017). A number of scholars have viewed the upper Yellow River and adjacent areas, including the headwaters of the Wei River, as the origins of the barbarian hordes who would bring down the Western Zhou Dynasty (Zhao, 1989;Li, 2006). ...
Article
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The Xindian culture of northwest China has been seen as a prototypical example of a transition toward pastoralism, resulting in part from environmental changes that started around 4000 years ago. To date, there has been little available residential data to document how and whether subsistence strategies and community organization in northwest China changed following or in association with documented environmental changes. The Tao River Archaeology Project is a collaborative effort aimed at gathering robust archaeological information to solidify our baseline understanding of economic, technological, and social practices in the third through early first millennia BC. Here we present data from two Xindian culture residential sites, and propose that rather than a total transition to nomadic pastoralism—as it is often reconstructed—the Xindian culture reflects a prolonged period of complex transition in cultural traditions and subsistence practices. In fact, communities maintained elements of earlier cultivation and animal-foddering systems, selectively incorporating new plants and animals into their repertoire. These locally-specific strategies were employed to negotiate ever-changing environmental and social conditions in the region of developing ‘proto-Silk Road’ interregional interactions.
... This is in contrast to the Chinese style of iron technology, which was predominantly based on cast iron (Wagner 1996). While evidence of bloomery iron produced in China has been documented (Mei et al. 2015;Wagner 1999Wagner , 2008, it is now widely accepted that knowledge of bloomery technology was transmitted from western Asia across the steppes to northwest China perhaps as early as 900 BC (Mei et al. 2015). It is important to note, however, that once the production of cast iron became well established in central China, around the sixth century BC, bloomery iron became exceedingly scarce in China (Wagner 2008: 246). ...
... This is in contrast to the Chinese style of iron technology, which was predominantly based on cast iron (Wagner 1996). While evidence of bloomery iron produced in China has been documented (Mei et al. 2015;Wagner 1999Wagner , 2008, it is now widely accepted that knowledge of bloomery technology was transmitted from western Asia across the steppes to northwest China perhaps as early as 900 BC (Mei et al. 2015). It is important to note, however, that once the production of cast iron became well established in central China, around the sixth century BC, bloomery iron became exceedingly scarce in China (Wagner 2008: 246). ...
Article
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Given the high level of technological sophistication involved in iron smelting, a common assumption held is that small mobile communities of the Mongolian steppe relied on trade with larger, settled, manufacturing centers for the acquisition of iron objects. Recent archaeological investigations in Mongolia suggest, however, that mobile pastoralist households and communities maintained a very active iron production industry. Although mounting evidence clearly points to the presence of household and community-based production, less is known about the level of technology employed by cottage industry scale manufacturers. In this paper we present the findings from excavations of mobile pastoralist dwellings and furnaces from sites in the Tarvagatai Valley of north-central Mongolia dating between 400 BC –AD 1300 that include a small assemblage of iron and iron-related objects bearing evidence of bloomery production. This material not only helps further substantiate that mobile communities in Mongolia had their own means of metal production but also indicates the innovative implementation of an existing technique at a scale previously deemed too small to be practical except in marginal steppe environments.
... The most important progress and challenge of lead isotope archaeology in China is the origin of highly radioactive lead in Shang Dynasty bronzes [17]. Jin Zhengyao's team has long believed that this copper and lead material came from northeast Yunnan [16,18]. ...
Article
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A large number of Yue style bronzes with regional cultural characteristics were unearthed in Hunan, which is of great significance for studying the cross-regional circulation of bronze technology and metal resources in the south of the Yangtze River during the Late Bronze Age (8 ~ 5 C. BCE) in China. In this study, 30 Yue style bronzes and 3 Chu style bronzes unearthed from five regions in Hunan Province were analyzed for chemical composition, metallography and lead isotopes. The results show that the alloy materials of Hunan Yue style bronze ware are diverse. The containers are mainly leaded tin bronze, with both tin bronze and copper. The weapons or tools are mostly tin bronze, and the alloy composition is primarily tin. The lead isotope ratio analysis results showed three main ore sources: polymetallic deposits in the Nanling Mountains, the eastern Hubei-northern Jiangxi metallogenic belt and the western Henan Qinling-Dabie metallogenic belt. The extensive source of minerals reflects the frequent trade of metal resources between Yue people and the Chu state, which is not only the economic basis for the close relationship between Hunan Yue people and Chu State but also an important driving force for the southward expansion of the Chu state and national integration in Hunan.
... At the same time, culture spread from west to east, with weapons, horse tools, decoration and other bronze and even iron tools from the Eurasian steppe through Xinjiang and influencing the Shaanxi-Gansu region [31,35,36]. Cultural exchanges in the Xinjiang region have been characterized by great diversity and complexity. ...
Article
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The Wupu cemetery, located in the Yizhou District, Hami City, Xinjiang Province, and in the eastern part of the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, is remains from the late Bronze Age. In this study, four faience beads excavated from the Wupu cemetery were examined by stereomicroscopy, synchrotron radiation micro-CT, and electron microprobe analysis. The appearance and compositions of these faience beads are presented and discussed. The results show that these tubular faience beads, glazed by the application glazing method, are all potash-rich faience, consistent with the faience produced locally in China. The faience products from the Central Plains were disseminated to the Hami region of Xinjiang Province during the Western Zhou dynasty (1046 BC–771 BC), reflecting the spread of such faience to the west with the Zhou people mastering the technique of making potash-rich faience.
... In China, significant progress has been made in understanding metalwork during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2000-1000 BCE) in the last few decades. Issues such as the origins of Chinese metallurgy [5], compositional characteristics, and casting processes of bronze ceremonial vessels of the Xia and Shang [6] periods have always attracted the attention of scholars [7]. However, research based on metal artefacts only reflects the last steps of ancient metallurgical processes and does not explain the complete smelting process. ...
Article
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To explore the source of Pb in Bronze Age artefacts from the Central Plains (Zhongyuan) in China, we investigated non-ferrous minerals from the Qingyuan archaeological site in Yuanqu County near the Zhongtiao Mountains. Fragments of smelting slag from the Erlitou cultural layer were collected. The smelting slag was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and lead isotope analysis. The SEM and EDS results confirmed that the slag contained Pb, Pb–As, and Cu–Pb–Sn inclusions and non-metal impurities such as low-Zn spinels. The XRD results signified that the bulk of the slag comprised Fe–Mn–Si phases. The chemical state of Pb was mainly Pb–O with some metallic Pb, as identified by XPS. The theoretical melting point was calculated using FactSage7.1 based on the composition and phase characterisation. The calculated temperature was 1100–1200 °C, which agreed well with the actual melting point of 1114–1354 °C. The slag composition and inclusion phases indicated that Pb–Zn–O ores with Mn and As were added during reduction smelting in Qingyuan. The raw materials of smelting included crude Pb with minor amounts of Cu, As, and Sn. Lead isotope analysis revealed that the lead materials produced in Qingyuan were likely transferred to Yanshi City in the Shang Dynasty. The findings of this study provide significant clues for exploring lead mineral production in the Central Plains during the Early Bronze Age.
... If this is correct, it is possible that prehistoric Khotanese speakers introduced iron in the Tarim Basin. However, iron spread quickly in the early first millennium BCE, as shown also by ninth-century finds from Arzhan in Tuva (Guo 2009: 108), and no conclusive routes for its spread could thus far be established on the basis of the relatively small number of finds (see Mei et al. 2015: 226 for iron in Central China). Therefore, it is very well possible that iron was introduced in parallel in northern Xīnjiāng. ...
Article
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Tocharian B eñcuwo “iron” and Tocharian A añcu * have been connected to the Iranian words for “iron”, notably Khwarezmian hnčw . On the basis of insights into the patterns of borrowings from Khotanese into Tocharian, it is argued that the Tocharian words must have been borrowed from a preform of Khotanese hīśśana- “iron”. Further, a new etymology is proposed for “iron” that accounts for the variation of this word in Iranian. The fact that Tocharian borrowed the word for “iron” from Khotanese, not from the archaic steppe dialect of Iranian that is the source of many other loanwords in Tocharian, suggests that the contacts between this latter dialect and Tocharian took place before iron became widespread in the region.
... Trans-cultural exchanges which resulted from both population migrations and the circulation of ideas within the drylands of the Asian interior during past millennia were of great significance for the spread of cultivated plants Motuzaite Matuzeviciute et al., 2020Spengler, 2019;Stevens et al., 2016;Wang et al., 2019a), domestic animals (Frantz et al., 2020;Guimaraes et al., 2020;Hermes et al., 2020;MacHugh et al., 2017;Taylor et al., 2018Taylor et al., , 2021Wilkin et al., 2020) and technology (Chen et al., 2018;Mei and Colin, 1999;Jordan et al., 2016;Mei et al., 2015;Sun et al., 2016;Wang et al., 2019b) across the Old World, which in turn shaped the transcontinental networks connecting East and West (Frachetti et al., 2017;Yang et al., 2019). However, the specific factors (both external and internal) responsible for the mobility of humans, for example, the longdistance migrations of Yamnaya/Afanasievo communities which has been regarded as a major process of prehistoric cultural transmission (e.g. ...
Article
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The causes of prehistoric human migrations in the drylands of the Asian interior have long been debated among multidisciplinary scholars. The Bronze Age Xiaohe settlements (ca. 4000–3300 cal yr BP) are situated in the extremely arid Tarim Basin of northwest China and exemplify a societal collapse which included a long-distance movement along river catchments. Here, we present the results of stable carbon isotope values (δ ¹³ C) of archaeobotanical remains, sedimentary faces analysis from the Tarim River catchment, and a compilation of palaeo-environmental evidence in order to investigate potential relationships between regional environmental changes and the response of prehistoric societies in this arid region. Results suggest that the early Xiaohe population was forced to migrate as a consequence of the deterioration of hydrological conditions around settlements. The decline of Xiaohe Culture occurred in the context of decreasing water availability in the basin interior due to climatic change lasting several hundred years. Results are potentially significant for the management of ecologically fragile dryland habitats, particularly the watershed terminus area, threatened by ongoing climate change, specifically in the context of the need to manage scarce water resources to promote sustainable socioeconomic development.
... Bronze Age sites in the Central Plains (CP) and arc ( Fig. 1) cover the Yanshan-Liaohe area (YLA), Gansu-Qinghai Region (GQR), west Sichuan and Yunnan area (WSYA; Tong, 1986;Rawson, 2017;Zhang, 2017), where artifacts (e.g., bronze vessels and scepter heads) first used in West Asia have been frequently discovered (Yan, 1987;Li, 2020). These areas played an important role in the long-distance exchange throughout Eurasia, beginning around 4300 BP (Mei et al., 2015;Rawson, 2017;Zhang, 2017). YLA and GQR were crucial east-west passages for the westward migration of millet from East Asia to Central Asia and Europe, as well as the eastward movement of wheat and barley from Southwest Asia to northern China (Dong et al., 2022). ...
Article
The emergence and intensification of the trans-Eurasian exchange during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Ages profoundly influenced human lifestyles, notably in the arc and the Central Plains. Though the exchange was critical to socioeconomic development, humans adopting livelihood strategies in varying ways depending on geography and social pressures remains unclear. Stable C and N isotopic analysis is the primary approach to study paleodiet—an important insight into ancient human livelihoods. Unfortunately, isotopic data are largely absent in China's Yunnan Province—a component of the arc—especially in the periods prior to 3000 BP. Here, we report the earliest and direct evidence of human diets in Yunnan during the Holocene, as shown by stable C and N isotopes and radiocarbon dates from human and animal bones unearthed from the Baiyangcun site. Integrating our data with archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Ages throughout the arc and Central Plains, we found that humans heavily relied on C3 foods in Yunnan during 4800–4600 BP and ∼3800–3300 BP and millet remains (C4) found in both periods were probably used for feeding other livestock and/or ritual practices rather than as staple food for humans. We also detected asynchronous transformation of human livelihoods across different regions during 4000–2200 BP, when wheat, barley, and herbivorous livestock were generally utilized in China. These exotic crops and livestock were adopted as necessary subsistence during 4000–3000 BP and became the dominant livelihood during 3000–2200 BP in the Gansu-Qinghai region. However, these practices were auxiliary strategies in Yunnan and the Central Plains during 4000–3000 BP and displayed a significant degree of spatial variation during 3000–2200 BP. We propose that the difference in livelihood transformation in these regions is largely a result of the physical features of crops and livestock, local natural environment, terrain, human survival pressures associated with climate change and population fluctuation.
... In the IAR, there is a lack of research on the impact of animal husbandry activities in the Bronze Age on the environment, including vegetation, soil, and hydrology, which is also an important area for future research. Moreover, studies on the environmental impact of metallurgical activities should be strengthened, especially in northwest China, a key area for the spread and development of early metallurgical technology (Mei et al., 2015;Roberts et al., 2009). ...
Article
It is evident that the origin, development, and expansion of agriculture and animal husbandry during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods across Eurasia facilitated the increase of the world population and emergence of ancient civilizations, as well as altering human livelihoods, especially in East Asia. However, different areas of China have different histories in terms of the development of agriculture and of extensive human settlement during that period, and the spatial differences in human–environment interaction are not yet well understood. Here, we review up-to-date results of radiocarbon dating, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological analysis from Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in China, along with high-resolution paleoclimatic records, to explore the spatiotemporal variation of human settlement and its relationship to the development of agriculture and to climate change in different areas during the period 10,000–2200 BP. The results suggest that human settlement intensities in the northern East Asia Monsoon Region and south China were relatively low during 10,000–6500 BP, with a small peak during ∼8000–7500 BP, and evidently increased since ∼6500 BP, whereas farming groups began to settle intensively on the Tibetan Plateau and the inland arid region since ∼5200 BP and ∼4000 BP, respectively. The spatiotemporal variation in the intensification of human settlement in China during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods was primarily induced by agricultural intensification and expansion across prehistoric Eurasia; climate change may have influenced the hydrothermal and vegetation conditions for crop cultivation and livestock production. The asynchronous intensive human settlements in different areas of China resulted in spatial differences in the impact of activities by human on the environments surrounding them during 10,000–2200 BP, shedding light on the evolution of the human–land relationship in China during the Neolithic and Bronze periods.
... Smelting furnaces associated with lateritic ore deposits were also found at the Ban Kao Din Tai site, (Bangkok), Thailand, dated to the 14th-15th centuries CE (Pryce & Natapintu, 2010). Iron smelting in Xinjiang, China occurred much earlier, namely in the 9th century BCE (Mei, et al., 2015), while in Bukit Khasi, India occurred in 353 BCE -128 CE (Prokop & Suliga, 2013). ...
... Historically speaking, the growth of human civilization was heavily dependent on plant resources, and the first evidence of bamboo usage was reported during the period of Shang dynasty (16the11th century BC) in China (Mei et al., 2015). The most important traditional uses of bamboos include paper and pulp, housing (Jain & Borthakur, 1980;Thomas et al., 2014;Yuming et al., 2004), scaffolding, pipes, bridges, food (Borkataki et al., 2008;Cabuy et al., 2012;Zhang et al., 2016), fodder (Aryal et al., 2009;Dhyani & Dhyani, 2016), fishing (Santos et al., 2003;Lagade & Muley, 2018;Saha & Nath, 2013), medicine (Hariyadi & Ticktin, combining traditional ideas with modern concepts, thereby giving a classic modern look to the newly emerging bamboo based products like furniture. ...
Chapter
Bamboo is an economically important plant of the family Poaceae. India is very rich in bamboo diversity, and particularly the eight sister states of North-East India are major hotspots with respect to genera and species diversity of bamboo worldwide. The local ethnic people are heavily dependent on the bioresources available from bamboos for various purposes such as food, beverage and their processing, fodder, medicine, in construction of houses, fishing, and handicraft industry. In this chapter, examples have been drawn primarily from North-East India, but also from the rest of the world. Knowledge of such uses need to be documented for sustainable exploitation of the bamboo vegetation and genetic diversity. Considering the extensive ethnic diversity and genetic diversity of bamboos in India, it is highly possible that many important ethnobotanical utilities of bamboos remain unknown. Therefore, transdisciplinary studies are needed to extract the vast knowledge of unknown ethnobotanical information available with different tribal communities of India and elsewhere. Also advances of technologies, such as pathway engineering should be employed to improve traits for the better exploitation of this bioresource.
... The provenance of the East Asian high radiogenic lead is still a hotly debated topic, see e.g. Chen, K. 2015;Jin, Z. 2008: 48-56;Liu, R. et al. 2018;Liu, S. et al. 2018;Ying, Q. et al. 2020;Zhangsun, Y. 2021. Due to the complexity of this problem, I will not elaborate it in this thesis. ...
Thesis
It has long been known that leaded bronze, an alloy consisting primarily of copper with the addition of tin and lead, was widely used in early China, starting from around the second millennium BC. The additional lead distinguishes this metal from common bronze, the copper-tin binary alloy, used by most other Early Metal Age civilisations in Eurasia. The reasons behind the use of leaded bronze have not been fully examined in previous literature. In this thesis, the discussion of metallurgical technologies and the studies on material properties are combined with four case studies of early metal-using communities to reinvestigate the use of leaded bronze in early China. With this approach, the thesis challenges the wide held notion that lead was consciously added by the craftspeople, mainly to facilitate the casting. Instead, I argue that the widespread of leaded bronze objects was mainly due to both the socio-economic concerns in making bronze ritual vessels in Central China and the recycling and reuse of the metals by other communities around Central China. Moreover, the seemingly common use of leaded bronze does not reflect a uniform acceptance of a single set of knowledge and know-how. Rather, people in different communities responded differently to this new material and chose to engage it in different ways. This study on leaded bronze provides us with a new perspective to recognise the complexity and diversity of technology and material culture in early Chinese communities. Meanwhile, through the active discussion on the theoretical frameworks and research methods for archaeometallurgy and material culture studies, I also suggest approaches which may be useful in future studies of early metallurgy and other craft production.
... There were many sites of copper casting workshops, in which unique alloy ratios and pottery models were used in various types of utensil, indicating that the late Shang Dynasty (13th-11th centuries BCE) had a very high level of copper casting technology (Gao, 2006;Liu, 2018). Hanzhong was a frontier area in the Shang Dynasty, and the discovery of more than 700 bronzes indicates the existence of local manufacturing and metal-processing industries at that time Mei et al., 2009Mei et al., , 2015. The Tongling mining and smelting site of the Wucheng Culture was the earliest and most important ancient copper smelting site discovered so far, where abundant raw materials were available for smelting copper in the Shang Dynasty (Peng, 2005). ...
Article
Heavy metal pollution is hazardous for the environment and human health. However, there are few studies of heavy metal pollution caused by historic metallurgical activity. The Laoniupo site in the Bahe River valley, Guanzhong Basin, China, was an important settlement of the Shang Culture (1600`-1046 BCE). We studied two stratigraphic profiles at the Laoniupo site, which were used for measurements of magnetic susceptibility, heavy metal concentrations, and AMS 14C ages to provide evidence of copper smelting activity at the site during the Shang Dynasty. The Nemerow Pollution Index and Geoaccumulation Index were calculated to assess the heavy metals record (Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb, Cr, and As) in the topsoil on the loess tableland. According to the Single Pollution Index, the topsoil was slightly polluted by As and unpolluted by Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb and Cr; according to the Nemerow Composite Pollution Index the topsoil was mildly polluted; and according to the Geoaccumulation Index, the topsoil was moderately polluted by As, slightly polluted by Cu, and unpolluted by Zn, Ni, Pb and Cr. The main cause of the heavy metal pollution in the topsoil is the presence of copper slag in the cultural layers that was disturbed by modern farming activity.
... In is not until the 21 st century that archaeologists and archaeometallurgists started to work together closely to systematically study early metal production as an inherent part of the early society, which can be of great significance to understand the development of human civilisation. Having said that, due to the enormous amount of early archaeological findings awaiting and limited trained personnel to carry out such work, archaeometallurgical research in China is still largely focusing on sample analysis and material characterisation, while the research methodology to study the of technology within social construction remains underdeveloped (Mei et al. 2015). ...
Conference Paper
This thesis focuses on the Qin State during the Warring States period as a political entity, and sets out to explore its iron production industry, aiming to model and understand the technological system adopted for iron production, tracing changes through time as well as exploring the interaction between the technology and its social context. Through the scientific study of archaeological iron unearthed from Qin civilian cemeteries and workshop across the Guanzhong Plain, it has been demonstrated that the iron production in the Qin state was predominantly based on cast iron smelting from the later stage of the middle Warring States period, with multiple technical pathways developed to cost-effectively produce various types of iron products. The mould casting process was adopted for producing most of the daily use artefacts and farming implements, with controlled cooling and annealing process applied to improve the mechanical strength of cast iron. Annealing and chaogang/fining techniques were used to convert cast iron into soft iron/steel, then further manufacture into tools and weapons through the forging process. Through the comparison between different technological choices, it has been demonstrated that the whole technological system was developed based on the aim to achieve optimum cost-effectiveness with the available techniques, while the technological tradition and cultural preferences also played key roles for the adoption of such an iron production system. Based on a synthesis of current research results, it has been argued that the State of Qin made the transition from bloomery iron smelting to cast iron smelting during the middle stage of the Warring States period, then quickly developed a functional and efficient technological system by the end of the Warring States period. This iron production system greatly promoted the development of the Qin state, mainly in the field of agricultural production, while weapon production for the Qin army also benefited from such an iron industry, which laid the foundations for the success of the unification war.
... For instance, during the Erligang (1600-1300 BCE) expansion, local smiths across the Central Plains casted a variety of culturally-specific shapes from imported ingots, using copper ores possibly from the Qinling Mountains (Chen et al., 2019: 134), or from other sources such as Panlongcheng and the Yangzi River Valley, though the emerging picture of the exchange network of raw materials and finished vessels is increasingly complex (Liu et al., 2019c). Meanwhile, as outlined by Mei Jianjun and colleagues Linduff and Mei, 2009;Mei et al., 2015), a renewed focus on regional typologies and alloying styles for bronzes, as well as accompanying infrastructure such as crucibles and molds (Chastain, 2019;Chen et al., 2009;Liu et al., 2013), holds further promise for highresolution reconstructions of the socioeconomic organization and mineral resource trade networks of the economy during the Shang dynasty (1600-1050 BCE). ...
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This paper reviews recent archaeological research on human-environment interaction in the Holocene, taking continental China as its geographic focus. As China is large, geographically diverse, and exceptionally archaeologically and historically well-documented, research here provides critical insight into the functioning of social-natural systems. Based on a broad review of the field as well as recent advances and discoveries, the authors reflect on research themes including climate change and adaptive systems theory, spatial and temporal scale, anthropogenic environmental change, risk management and resilience, and integration of subdisciplines. These converge on three overarching conclusions. First, datasets relevant to climate change and ancient human-environment interaction must be as local and specific as possible, as the timing of environmental change differs locally, and the human response is highly dependent on local social and technological conditions. Second, the field still needs more robust theoretical frameworks for analyzing complex social-natural systems, and especially for integrating data on multiple scales. Third, for this work to contribute meaningfully to contemporary climate change research, effective communication of research findings to the public and to scientists in other disciplines should be incorporated into publication plans.
... Gold is an important material from ancient times and has been found as a decorative material in tombs from the Shang Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC) [1][2][3]. Gold is widely used in various decorations, such as Chinese classical furniture [4,5], due to its brilliant color, dazzling luster, and excellent chemical properties. Gold leaf gilding, which is the art of decorating the whole or parts of wood, metal, plaster, glass, or other objects with gold in either leaf or powder form [6][7][8][9], is an important gold decoration process. ...
... Gold is an important material from ancient times and has been found as a decorative material in tombs from the Shang Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC) [1][2][3]. Gold is widely used in various decorations, such as Chinese classical furniture [4,5], due to its brilliant color, dazzling luster, and excellent chemical properties. Gold leaf gilding, which is the art of decorating the whole or parts of wood, metal, plaster, glass, or other objects with gold in either leaf or powder form [6][7][8][9], is an important gold decoration process. ...
Article
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Gold leaf samples of different purities were corroded in a SO2 atmosphere at three different relative humidities (30%, 60%, 90%) at ambient temperature, and the effects on color, gloss, and morphology were studied. Results showed that a corrosion rate of 0.0898 g/cm2 could be attained after 6 weeks at high humidity. Color changes also occurred during the gold leaf corrosion process, and many thin pits formed on the surfaces, as shown by SEM. EDX results showed that these pits contained C, O, and S compounds. By comparing the results of different gold purity samples and different relative humidity conditions, it could be concluded that both gold content and humidity play an important role in SO2 atmosphere corrosion. These conclusions are helpful for the conservation of gold leaf decorative cultural relics.
... Research on the spread of metallurgy into China has suggested that the initial ideas of smelting metal were likely transmitted through contact with metal-using peoples of the Eurasian steppes, probably through the Gansu corridor. At the same time, the ways of making and using metal in the central plains of China are so radically different from those of the "donor " regions that a simple model of diffusion is woefully unsuited to explain the patterning of archaeometallurgical evidence ( Mei et al., 2015( Mei et al., , 2017. Indeed, the diffusion-independent invention binary subsumes a wide variety of interactions that represent radically different mechanisms of technological spread. ...
Article
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The field of archaeomaterials research has enormous potential to shed light on past innovation processes. However, this potential has been only partially recognized outside its immediate practitioners, despite the fact that innovation and technology change are topics of enduring interest in archaeology and the broader social sciences. This review explores the relationship between archaeomaterials research and the interdisciplinary study of innovation, and maps out a path toward greater integration of materials analysis into these discussions. To foster this integration, this review has three aims. First, I sketch the theoretical landscape of approaches to the study of innovation in archaeology and neighboring disciplines. I trace how theoretical traditions like evolutionary archaeology have influenced archaeomaterials approaches to questions of technological change while also highlighting cases where work by archaeomaterials researchers anticipated trends in the anthropology of technology. Next, I distill a series of core concerns that crosscut these different theoretical perspectives. Finally, I describe examples where archaeomaterials research has deepened scholarly understanding of innovation processes and addressed these core questions. The future of archaeomaterials research lies in engagement with these broader discussions and effective communication of the contributions that materials analysis can make to building a comparative understanding of innovation processes.
... The transition to agriculture does correspond with population movement (17,18) and is a pattern demonstrated throughout the region. However, subsequent archaeological transitions are usually referred to through dynastic change rather than technological change (19). This is particularly true within China and adjacent regions, despite migration associated with these technological shifts proven at a genetic level (18). ...
Article
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Ancient Y-Chromosomal DNA is an invaluable tool for dating and discerning the origins of migration routes and demographic processes that occurred thousands of years ago. Driven by the adoption of high-throughput sequencing and capture enrichment methods in paleogenomics, the number of published ancient genomes has nearly quadrupled within the last three years (2018–2020). Whereas ancient mtDNA haplogroup repositories are available, no similar resource exists for ancient Y-Chromosomal haplogroups. Here, we present aYChr-DB—a comprehensive collection of 1797 ancient Eurasian human Y-Chromosome haplogroups ranging from 44 930 BC to 1945 AD. We include descriptors of age, location, genomic coverage and associated archaeological cultures. We also produced a visualization of ancient Y haplogroup distribution over time. The aYChr-DB database is a valuable resource for population genomic and paleogenomic studies.
... However, the intensity of the exchange was relatively low, given the limited number of remains of these western crops and livestock recovered from archeological sites in the period from 4300 to 4000 BP (Brunson et al., 2016;Long et al., 2018). The exchange strengthened markedly in the fourth millennium BP in northern China, with more frequent discoveries of metal objects, wheat, barley, sheep/goat, and cattle (Dong et al., 2018;Flad et al., 2007;Liu et al., 2015Liu et al., , 2017Mei et al., 2015;Yuan, 2015), especially in the arc located between the steppe and the Central Plains, which was the key area for transcontinental exchange between ~4300 and 3500 BP (Rawson, 2015(Rawson, , 2017Zhang, 2017). ...
Article
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Transcontinental exchange emerged and intensified in northern China since the late fifth millennium BP (Before present), especially in the arc, which was the core area of the eastern part of the trans-Eurasian exchange during the Late Neolithic and the Bronze Age. In the arc, the exchange profoundly affected the human subsistence strategy and human-environment relationship. Relative to the crop patterns and human diets during the Bronze Age in northern China, systematic investigations of zooarcheological data based on broad spatial and temporal framework to understand the influence of introduced livestock and indigenous livestock on human subsistence are lacking. To show the spatial-temporal variation in animal utilization patterns and its relation to prehistoric trans-Eurasian exchange, the zooarcheological data from 40 sites in northern China dated between 5000 and 2500 BP were analyzed. The strategy of animal utilization in northern China changed substantially from 5000 to 2500 BP, with notable spatial features in different chronological phases. From 5000 to 4300 BP, wild mammals and indigenous livestock (pig, dog) use dominated in the arc and the North China Plain (NCP). During 4300–3500 BP, the importance of introduced livestock (cattle, sheep/goat, horse) exceeded that of indigenous livestock in the arc, whereas indigenous livestock continued to dominate in the NCP. Indigenous livestock acted as the most important animal subsistence in northern China, although the exploitation of introduced livestock increased during 3500–2000 BP. These spatio-temporal differences in animal utilization appear to be closely associated with the prehistoric trans-Eurasian exchange, but were also affected by local environment, agriculture development, and climate change.
... For instance, sedimentary archives at archaeological sites in the Yiluo River valley and the North China Plain indicate that land clearance for agriculture and fuel increased erosion starting during the Middle Holocene (Rosen, 2007(Rosen, , 2008. The development of metallurgy around 4000 BP further accelerated the pace of erosion on the Loess Plateau and also introduced more heavy metals into geoarchives, like lacustrine and archaeological sediments (Lee et al., 2008;Linduff and Mei, 2009;Mei et al., 2015). ...
... The material culture at Tianshanbeilu consists of two major bodies of artefacts, pottery and copper-based objects. The repertoire of pottery, particularly the painted wares, provides a clear typological connection to those of the contemporary Siba and Qijia cultures in the Hexi Corridor, strongly implying an eastern connection (Mei, 2000;Li, 2005;Han, 2007;Mei et al., 2015). An initial study of the metalwork from the site also supported this connection. ...
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Tianshanbeilu is the largest Bronze Age site in eastern Xinjiang, China. Stretching across the entire second millennium BC, it performed a prominent role in connecting the Hexi corridor, Central China and the steppe. A further insight into the metallurgical tradition and the metal supply network is of vital importance to improve our understanding of its multi‐connected nature. This paper offers a new set of chemical and isotopic data on the copper‐based objects at Tianshanbeilu, including alloying elements, trace elements (impurities) and lead isotopes. Combining the concentrations of arsenic and antimony reveals that arsenic was introduced to copper partially due to the use of specific minerals tethrahedrite‐tennantite. Lead isotopes demonstrate that multiple sources of copper were employed at Tianshanbeilu and a majority of them are characterized by common lead, which appears rather different from those of the Central Plains and the Hexi corridor, but highly consistent with local ores. Surprisingly, one object at Tianshanbeilu contains the well‐known highly radiogenic lead. This object undoubtedly marks the westernmost boundary of the distribution of the highly radiogenic lead. We also anticipate that more lead isotopic analyses in NW China will further contribute to the study of the highly radiogenic lead in Central China.
... The Bronze Age of dynastic Central China is completely unlike that encountered elsewhere in Eurasia. The first bronze objects perhaps arrive in the Hexi Corridor (the present Gansu province) in the far west of modern China around the first half of the second millennium BCE (Mei et al., 2015;Chen, 2017). They consist of the single bladed knives or personal ornaments in the steppe style and are made of an alloy very similar to that seen elsewhere in southern Siberia -pure copper, tin bronze or copper arsenic alloys (Chernykh, 1992). ...
Article
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The use of lead, some of which is characterized by a highly radiogenic signature, sharply distinguishes Bronze Age China from the rest of Eurasia. Scholars have long hypothesized that silver can offer an independent proxy to characterize lead minerals. The summary of silver distribution associated with Shang and Western Zhou bronzes in this paper reveals an important difference between the south (Sanxingdui, Hanzhong, Jinsha, Panlongcheng, Xin’gan) and the Central Plains. Correlating silver with lead content as well as with the isotopic signature indicates that south China and the Central Plains had different lead sources during the late Shang period, and also that the highly radiogenic and common lead used at Anyang come from geochemical environments which cannot be distinguished by the level of silver.
... Human civilisation started using iron as early as 1500 BC (Sahi 1979;Agrawal et al. 1985;Tewari 2003). Archeological evidences show that production of molten iron started first in China around 800 BC (Mei et al. 2015). Since then the iron production technology has evolved continuously. ...
Article
In a journey of centuries, the ironmaking blast furnace has gone through many technological changes, which made it a fit-for-purpose till today. However, for the first time in history, its existence is being challenged by other iron making processes, due to its high carbon footprint compared to others. Many researchers are working on adapting the existing blast furnace process to meet the new challenges. Modelling has played a crucial role in new adaptations of the process. The present review has been dedicated to historical developments of blast furnace modelling. The models are broadly classified into comprehensive, zone-specific, and data-driven models. The comprehensive models are further classified into lumped models, 1-D, 2-D and 3-D steady state and transient models, and CFD-DEM models. For the purpose of brevity, the zone-specific models are exemplified by burden distribution models only. Finally, developments in data-driven models are discussed, before some general conclusions are presented.
... Forestless landscape stretched toward North FIGURE 8 | Historic spread of copper metallurgy in Eurasia. This map displays the locations of earliest regional centers of smelting copper ores-according to the available archaeological research on the earliest metallurgy (Chernykh, 1966(Chernykh, , 1992(Chernykh, , 2012Sunchugashev, 1975;Zhuravlev, 1977;Sergeyeva, 1981;Prakash and Tripathi, 1986;Rybakov, 1987;Kon'kova, 1989;Thiel, 1989;Mishra, 1994;Reedy, 1997;Kiriushin, 2002;Tylecote, 2002;Nguyen, 1986;Baipakov and Taimagambetov, 2006;Simukhin, 2006;Yanin, 2006;Ciarla, 2007;Hauptmann, 2007;Kaniuth, 2007;Park and Gordon, 2007;Subbotina, 2008;Herva et al., 2009;Roberts et al., 2009;White and Hamilton, 2009;Radivojević et al., 2010;Erb-Satullo, 2011;Higham et al., 2011;Wan, 2011;Potts, 2012;O'Brien, 2014;Garner, 2015;Gelegdorj, 2015;Mei et al., 2015;Hung and Chao, 2016;Huo, 2016;Tripathi, 2018). The routes and timeline of its spread suggests the spread of metallic JHs along with the new homophonic tradition of JH music. ...
Article
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The current scientific research into music has been skewed in favor of its frequency-based variety prevalent in the West. However, its alternative, the timbre-based music, native to the Northeast, seems to represent an earlier evolutionary development. Western researchers commonly interpret such timbre-based music as a “defective” rendition of frequency-based music. They often regard pitch as the structural criterion that distinguishes music from non-music. We would like to present evidence to the contrary—in support of the existence of indigenous music systems based on the discretization and patterning of aspects of timbre, rather than pitch. Such music is distinguished by its personal orientation: for oneself and/or for close relatives/friends. Collective music-making is rare and exceptional because of the deeply rooted institute of “personal song” - a system of personal identification through individualized patterns of rhythm, timbre, and pitch contour—whose sound enables the recognition of a particular individual.
... In comparison, studies in Eurasia and in eastern and northern Europe are rare. Africa, east Asia and the Americas are underexplored despite recent attempts notably in Japan, China, Mexico and Chile (Yoshikawa et al., 2006;Maldonado and Rehren;Mei, 2009;Mille et al., 2013;Zori et al., 2013;Mei et al., 2015;Figueroa et al., 2018). ...
Chapter
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The chapters contributed to the volume recognize the important and diverse contributions of mineralogy to the valorization, characterization, interpretation and conservation of cultural heritage. The book focuses on examples of materials and methodological issues rather than technical/analytical details. We have attempted to deal with the cultural heritage materials in chronological order of their technological developments, to relate them to past human activities, and to highlight unresolved problems in need of investigation.
... The archaeometallurgical studies in China can be traced back to the middle of the last century, and the exchanges between western academia and Chinese scholars have been increasing since 2000 [1]. The Eurasia steppe is considered as an important region of the introduction of bronze technology into ancient China, and our research is mainly focused on the early bronze cultures at the northern frontier of modern China [2]. ...
Article
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Abstract The site of Habaqila is located in the area between Inner Mongolia and Liaoning provinces and dated to the 13th–11th centuries BC. It was identified as a metal production workshop of the Lower Xiajiadian Culture and revealed abundant metallurgical remains, including ore fragments, slags, technical ceramics, and stone implements. Scientific analyses demonstrated that polymetallic ores were smelted to produce tin bronze and arsenical copper. Perforated furnaces might have been employed in this process. The site also revealed the first known field evidence of tin smelting in a Bronze Age site of northern China. Systematic investigation of this site increases our understanding of metallurgical processes of Bronze Age culture in northern China.
... The intensification of the trans-Eurasian cultural exchanges made a contribution to the diversification of livelihoods in the second millennium BC in the Hexi Corridor. On direct reflection, the Hexi Corridor is certainly one of the earliest centres for producing bronze vessels in North China (Li 2005;Liu et al. 2015;Mei et al. 2015) and for copper-smelting by humans, as demonstrated by the accumulated sediment pollution Fig. 4 (c)). The intensity of the human activities was probably a major trigger for the transition of primary crops from millet to wheat in the region around 3700 BP (Zhou et al. 2016). ...
Article
Despite decades of efforts to reconstruct the bronze production and metal distribution systems of the Shang period in Bronze Age China, there remains limited understanding of the ore choices and smelting practices of the Shang people. This study addresses this research gap by conducting a detailed investigation of Shang period copper ores and smelting remains uncovered at the Tongling site in the Middle Yangtze River valley. The results of lead isotope, copper isotope, trace element, and rare earth element (REE) pattern help to classify the slags from this site into two groups, associated with smelting sulphidic (Group A) and oxidic (Group B) copper ores, respectively. This finding not only serves as the first physical evidence of the use of sulphidic copper ores in Early Bronze Age China but also provides pivotal details of the copper resource exploitation strategies of the Shang people. It challenges the traditional narrative that the Shang people moved to this area solely for the high-grade supergene deposits. The parallel use of both supergene and hypogene ores at the same site complicates the notion of a linear, technological evolution from simpler to more advanced copper sources. Despite the presence of hypogene ores, the study reveals that the Shang people maintained labour-intensive smelting practices, including crushing slag to recover trapped metallic prills, to meet the demands of large-scale bronze casting. This nuanced approach to copper resource exploitation reflects a complex, context-dependent strategy rather than a technological revolution. By highlighting these intricate metallurgical choices, this research contributes to a broader rethinking of early technological development, underscoring the diversity and adaptability of ancient craft industries and their role in shaping Shang society.
Article
This article explores the manner in which the Eurasian metallurgical tradition was transformed into an indigenous tradition on the Chinese Central Plains. It argues that the association of luminosity with the divine has a cognitive foundation, which accounts for the use translucent stones and shiny metals, including copper, bronze, silver, and gold as mediums for religious artifacts throughout the world. In China, this association was the primary impetus for the development of an indigenous metallurgy based on a piece-mold and coring technology. Although the technology ultimately concentrated on the production of ritual vessels, it was first developed at Yanshi Erlitou 偃師二里頭 for the production of clapper-bells (ling 鈴), which had similar round hollow bodies. We further explore the history of clapper-bells, arguing that they were a development of a Central Plains tradition dating back to the Yangshao 仰韶 period (5000–3000 b.c.e.). We argue that their religious significance at Erlitou lay in the previously unheard sound produced when the two luminous substances, jade and bronze, struck against one another. Thus, religious interlocutors at Erlitou used them to contact the ancestral spirits. Later, in the Yinxu 殷墟 period of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1300–1050 b.c.e.), bronze clapper-bells were worn by dogs buried in tombs. We propose that their role there was a development of the earlier one; that is, they were used to contact the occupant's ancestral spirits as he was guided by the dog in the underworld.
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The ever-growing body of research on trans-Eurasian exchange during the third–first millennium bce continues to improve understanding of mechanisms that facilitated the movement of objects, materials, ideas, and even people. However, whether bronze mirrors in Central Asia and China represent the exchange of technological knowledge or movement of the objects themselves remains unresolved, as researchers require extensive knowledge of huge quantities of data generated during the Soviet Central Asia campaigns of the mid twentieth century. The often confusing, impenetrable excavation reports, combined with required knowledge of Chinese, Russian and English, have caused much confusion about dates and contexts. This article presents and compares data published in Russian and Chinese reports. By clarifying the chronology for mirrors in Central Asia and China, we challenge simplistic theories of object diffusion and spread that persist in studies of trans-Eurasian exchange. We argue that the early second-millennium bce appearance of mirrors in western and northwestern China resulted from different exchange mechanisms specific to each local socio-cultural context. This demonstrates not only the complexity of interactions at the group and individual levels, but also how these factors can be integrated with data-driven analyses to explore the role they played in large-scale Bronze Age exchange networks.
Article
Yuejiazhuang is a cemetery site of Qin people in the Northern Shaanxi, China, and it is dated to the mid‐late Warring States Period. Ninety‐two iron objects were excavated from the Yuejiazhuang cemetery site, which provide an opportunity to understand the use and production of iron in the Northern Shaanxi. The metallurgical and statistical study has revealed that bloomery iron, cast iron and steel made from cast iron were adopted in the Northern Shaanxi during the mid‐late Warring States Period. In the meanwhile, cast iron and steel made from cast iron became dominant in the Northern Shaanxi.
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The first rare metal finds in China are dated to the Neolithic period, but most of them belong to its final phase. For this period, pure copper is known, very rare arsenic alloys, probably smelted from ore with arsenic admixtures. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, in Gansu, the technology of smelting ore with the following alloying with arsenic, occasionally tin minerals were borrowed from an unknown source. This technology spread to the east, and is present in the Erlitou II layer. At the beginning of the Erlitou III phase (which corresponds to the beginning of the Shang dynasty), the tradition of the Seima-Turbino metallurgy and the technology of smelting copper sulfide ores and alloying with tin penetrated into the Yellow River basin from the north (through Shanxi) from southern Siberia. This tradition soon spread to southern China, as well as the western and northern peri-phery of Chinese civilization. The penetration of the Karasuk tradition of arsenic alloys is also observed in the west and north in the late Shang period, and the Shang and Karasuk metallurgical traditions coexisted there. A special situation formed in Xinjiang, where the Andronovo tradition of smelting sulfide ores and tin alloys pene-trated, but this penetration was limited to the west of the region. It did not affect the development of Chinese me-tallurgy. In general, in China, there is the same correspondence between the types of used ores and alloys as in the rest of Eurasia: native copper and malachite — pure copper, oxidized ores and secondary sulfides with gangue — arsenic copper, occasionally tin bronze, copper-iron sulfides — tin bronze. But in China, this sequence was driven by two technological impulses at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC (from an unclear source) and at the end of the second half of the 2nd millennium BC from southern Siberia. In addition, during the late Shang period, the interaction of the Shang and Karasuk traditions occurred in the north and west.
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Since one of the aims of modern archaeometallurgy is to understand the processes carried out by ancient metalworkers, then ideally, we need to go beyond the traditional sources of evidence for such processes-physical investigation and chemical analysis of the objects themselves, and associated manufacturing debris. In order to understand the intentionality behind the decisions taken by these metalworkers (the 'why', in addition to the 'how'), then we need to 'see the world' as the met-alworkers themselves did. The key issue is how to traverse the gulf between ancient and modern perceptions of the natural world. Using ancient Chinese bronze metalwork as an example, we argue that many interesting glimpses of this world can be drawn from the contemporary and later literary sources. But it is crucial to note that these insights have to be supported by independent evidence, such as scientific data or archaeological information. Once verified, these findings can significantly improve our knowledge of the metaphysical perception of metal in the past and offer a heuristic and powerful tool to interpret the relationship between metallurgy and society. For the Chinese Bronze Age, metallurgy performed a crucial part in the political and ritual world. In particular, the different colours of metal objects provide important indicators of the social hierarchy as evidenced by burial practice.
Chapter
In this chapter, we particularly focus on various ethnobotanical utilities of bamboos with a major focus on their uses by ethnic people of India. In addition to published reports, we also add data collected during survey work in two Indian states, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, which are known as hotspots for bamboo biodiversity as well as the diversity of the local ethnic group. We introduce a new term “ethnobamboology,” which we define as collective uses of bamboos to cater to diverse needs of the local, ethnic population. We also discuss how genomic advances can be exploited to reshape “ethnobamboology” research in the future.
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Iron has been important in human civilization since the abandonment of stone tools. The traditional technology of iron ore smelting in Indonesia has been known for hundreds of years, but research on the local traditional iron industry is still very minimal. This study aims to explain the iron industry in the southeast Kalimantan before modern times until the present using ethnohistory and experimental archaeological approaches. The research conducted in 2017-2019 at the upstream of Barito watershed, North Barito Regency, Central Kalimantan, has found 19 sites with the findings were furnaces, air pipes, iron ore fragments, charcoal, and slag. The traditional iron-making began with the process of mining, followed by iron ore smelting and forging. The archaeological experiments by smelting furnace produced the raw iron by a percentage of 40-60% from ore. The experiments produced the ingots with Fe content of about 80% (XRF analysis) and showed good ore quality. However, since the early 20th century the iron-making industry has been abandoned because of the arrivals of cheaper iron from China. Recently, the remaining iron industry consists of only the blacksmiths who produce agricultural equipment from scrap iron, some only gild to sharpen machetes and ‘mandau’.
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Advances in research on the origins of monetisation in the Mediterranean have shown that even with state-controlled currency circulating, (coinage-less) credit economies existed in parallel, using written documents for transactions well into the Roman period. The current paper documents that a credit economy facilitated the Phoenician commercial expansion in the Mediterranean (9th-7th c. BCE), becoming the vehicle by which the Phoenician 'alphabet', a West Semitic abjad, was rapidly adopted and adapted into various phonetic and syllabic scripts in the Mediterranean. This led to the rapid spread of literacy in societies that had reverted to full illiteracy by then, such as the Greeks one, or that had never developed literacy. In contrast with previous explanations that saw the spread of literacy in the Mediterranean as a corollary to international trade, the present study postulates that literacy played a functional role within the credit economies that grew with international commerce, thereby providing the impetus for the spread of literacy, given that it offers documentation that substantiates this hypothesis. In essence, the study links the rapid spread of literacy to the institutional role of the script within the context of monetised commercial transactions, utilising archaeological evidence from both ends of the Mediterranean, and interpreting it within its historical context.
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Different agricultural and metallurgical systems had developed at the eastern and western ends of Eurasia continent before 3000 BC. As one of the earliest Bronze Age cultures in the Eurasian steppe, the Afanasyevo Culture originating from Southern Siberia, Russia, had played an extremely significant role in facilitating cultural interactions and the spread of domestic species in Eurasia. Hence, investigating the diets of Afanasyevo populations during their movements across the Eurasian steppe possibly provides important clues to explore when, where, and how the earlier cultural interactions happened. Here, we present the isotopic analysis of Afanasyevo humans found in Ayituohan Ι Cemetery (ca. 2836–2490 cal BC) in the southern Altai Mountains, Xinjiang of China, and compare with those of Afanasyevo humans from the different regions in Southern Siberia of Russia. All of the high δ15N values indicate that the subsistence strategies of Afanasyevo populations were dominated by the animal husbandry during their movements; meanwhile, the obviously high δ13C values in this study suggest that a certain amount of millet-based foods (millet crops and/or domesticated animals fed on millets) appeared in their diets as they settled in the southern Altai Mountains in Xinjiang of China. It provides new evidence for the millet transmission along Inner Asian Mountain Corridor and especially for the early interaction of multiregional agropastoralism between Eurasian steppe and northwest China.
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A very popular, yet barely researched, musical instrument is the Jew's Harp (JH). Its earliest archaeological occurrences date back to the early Bronze Age, but its simplest constructions, made of tree twigs and bark, along with its cross-cultural connection to shamanic beliefs and doxological status, suggest its prehistoric use. I outline a possible scenario in which the spread of the cult of ancestral plants across this vast region, from Altai to Sakhalin, and the cult of the "singing mask" of the Tuva-Amur area may have given special importance to musicking on the JH, initiating its spread along pastoralism to the neighboring regions. The influence of the ancient "talking JH" tradition would explain vowel harmony found in most languages of the Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic families of the Transeurasian (aka "Altaic") family, as well as in neighboring Uralic languages - all of which are spoken by peoples that regularly use the JH.
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