Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T13:57:00.809Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bronze Age metal circulation in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2017

A.M. Pollard ,
P. Bray ,
P. Hommel ,
Y.-K. Hsu ,
R. Liu  and
J. Rawson
A.M. Pollard
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
P. Bray
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
P. Hommel
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
Y.-K. Hsu
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
R. Liu*
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
J. Rawson
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
*
*(Author for correspondence: R. Liu; email: ruiliang.liu@stx.ox.ac.uk)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Shang (c. 1500–1045 BC) and Zhou dynasties (c. 1045–771 BC) of China are famous for their sophisticated ritual bronze vessels. Sourcing the leaded tin-bronze has, however, proved to be a challenge. A new systematic approach to metal chemistry uses trace elements and isotopes to characterise the underlying circulation pattern. It reveals the complexity of the copper sources on which the late Shang capital at Anyang depended for its bronzes, suggesting the transport of copper from distant regions in the south, on the Yangtze, and from north-east China. The new interpretational system furthers our understanding of the network on which successive Chinese dynasties depended for copper, lead and tin, and attempts to give equal weight to the archaeological and chemical data.

Keywords

ChinaBronze Agemetal chemistryflamenetwork
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 91 , Issue 357 , June 2017 , pp. 674 - 687
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bagley, R.W. 1977. P'an-lung-ch'eng: a Shang city in Hupei. Artibus Asiae 39: 165–219. https://doi.org/10.2307/3250165 Google Scholar
Bagley, R.W. 1987. Shang ritual bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Foundation.Google Scholar
Bagley, R.W. 2014. Erligang bronzes and the discovery of the Erligang culture, in Steinke, K. & Ching, D.C.Y. (ed.) Art and archaeology of the Erligang civilization: 19–48. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bray, P., Cuénod, A., Gosden, C., Hommel, P., Liu, R. & Pollard, A.M.. 2015. Form and flow: the ‘karmic cycle’ of copper. Journal of Archaeological Science 56: 202–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.12.013 Google Scholar
Campbell, R.B. 2009. Toward a networks and boundaries approach to early complex polities. Current Anthropology 50: 821–48. https://doi.org/10.1086/648398 Google Scholar
Cao, D. 2014. The loess highland in a trading network (1300–1050 BC). Unpublished PhD dissertation, Princeton University.Google Scholar
Chen, J. 2014. Zhongguo gudai jinshu yezhu wenming xintan. Beijing: Press of Science.Google Scholar
Chen, K. 2009. Shaanxi Hanzhong chutu Shangdai tongqi de kexue fenxi yu zhizuo jishu yanjiu. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Science and Technology, Beijing.Google Scholar
Chen, J., Sun, S., Han, R., Chen, T., Zhai, T., Ban, B. & Tian, K.. 2001. Panlongcheng yizhi chutu tongqi de weiliang yuansu fenxi baogao, in Hubei Sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo (ed.) Panlongcheng 1963–1994 nian kaogu fajue baogao. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Chengdu Archaeological Institution & Jinsha Museum. 2013/2014. Jinsha yizhi kaogu fajue ziliao (1/2). Beijing: Press of Science.Google Scholar
Cui, J. & Wu, X.. 2008. Qian tongweisu kaogu yanjiu. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Deng, C. 1994. Ancient cultures of South China and neighbouring regions: essays in honour of Professor Cheng Te-K'un on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of his academic career. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Ding, Y. & Wang, Z.. 2016. Shigushan M4 Shang Zhou mudi zaishi. Wenwu 2016 (1): 64–70.Google Scholar
He, Y. 2014. Yinxu wangling zaoqi beidao niandai yanjiu. Kaogu 2014 (6): 92–100.Google Scholar
Hsu, Y.-K., Bray, P. J., Hommel, P., Pollard, A.M. & Rawson, J.. 2016. Tracing the flows of copper and copper alloys in the Early Iron Age societies of the eastern Eurasian steppe. Antiquity 90: 357–75. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.22 Google Scholar
Huang, M.C. 2013/2014. Cong kaogu faxian kan Xi Zhou muzang de [fenqi] xianxiang yu Xi Zhou shidai liqi zhidu de leixing yu jieduan (shangpian/xiapian). Zhongyang yanjiuyuan Lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan 83 (4)–84(1): 607–70/1–82.Google Scholar
Hubei Provincial Institution of Archaeology & Suizhou Museum. 2011. Hubei suizhou yejiashan Xi Zhou mudi fajue jianbao. Wenwu 2011 (11): 4–63.Google Scholar
CASS, IA Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Science. 1980. Yinxu fuhao mu. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House.Google Scholar
CASS, IA Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Science. 2015. Henan anyang shi tiesanlu Yinxu wenhua shiqi zhiguzuofang yizhi. Kaogu 2015 (8): 37–62.Google Scholar
Jin, Z. 2008. Zhongguo qian tongweisu kaogu. Beijing: University of Science & Technology Press.Google Scholar
Jin, Z., Liu, R., Rawson, J. & Pollard, A.M.. Forthcoming. Revisiting lead isotope data in Shang and Western Zhou bronzes. Antiquity.Google Scholar
Jing, Z. 2010. Yinxu wangling qu zaoqi daojue keng de fasheng niandai yu beijing. Kaogu 2010 (2): 78–90.Google Scholar
Kane, V.C. 1974. The independent bronze industries in the south of China contemporary with the Shang and Western Chou dynasties. Archives of Asian Art 28: 77–107.Google Scholar
Li, S. 2005. Xibei yu zhongyuan zaoqi yetongye de quyu tezheng ji jiaohu zuoyong. Kaogu xuebao 2005: 239–78.Google Scholar
Li, Y. & Han, R.. 1990. Linxi Dajing gutong kuangye yizhi yelian jishu yanjiu. Ziran kexue shi yanjiu 7: 151–60.Google Scholar
Lin, Y. 1986. A re-examination of the relationship between bronzes of the Shang culture and of the Northern Zone, in Chang, C.K. (ed.) Studies of Shang archaeology: 237–73. New Haven (CT) & London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Linduff, K.M. & Mei, J.. 2014. Metallurgy in ancient eastern Asia: retrospect and prospects, in Roberts, B.W. & Thornton, C.P. (ed.) Archaeometallurgy in global perspective: methods and syntheses: 785–803. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, J. 2015. Shaanbei diqu chutu Shang Zhou shiqi qingtongqi de kexue fenxi yanjiu—jianlun Shang dai wanqi Jinshaan gaoyuan yu Anyang de wenhua lianxi. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Science and Technology, Beijing.Google Scholar
Liu, L. & Chen, X.. 2003. State formation in early China. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Ma, J., Jin, Z., Tian, J. & Chen, D.. 2012. Sanxingdui tongqi de heji chengfen he jinxiang yanjiu. Sichuan Wenwu 2012 (2): 90–96.Google Scholar
McKerrell, H. & Tylecote, R.F.. 1972. The working of copper-arsenic alloys in the Early Bronze Age and the effect on the determination of provenance. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 38: 209–18. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0079497X00012111 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mei, J., Wang, P., Chen, K., Wang, L., Wang, Y. & Liu, Y.. 2015. Archaeometallurgical studies in China: some recent developments and challenging issues. Journal of Archaeological Science 56: 221–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.02.026 Google Scholar
Needham, S.P. 1998. Modelling the flow of metal in the Bronze Age, in Mordant, C., Pernot, M. & Rychner, V. (ed.) L'Atelier du Bronzier en Europe du xxe au viiie siècle avant notre ère; volume III, production, circulation et consommation du Bronze: 285–307. Paris: CTHS.Google Scholar
Pollard, A.M. & Bray, P.J.. 2015. A new method for combining lead isotope and lead abundance data to characterize archaeological copper alloys. Archaeometry 57: 996–1008. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12145 Google Scholar
Rawson, J. 1990. Western Zhou ritual bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Foundation.Google Scholar
Rawson, J. 2015. Steppe weapons in ancient China: China and the role of hand-to-hand combat. National Palace Museum Quarterly 33 (1): 37–96.Google Scholar
Song, J. & Nan, P.. 2012. Jiangxian Hengshui Xi Zhou mudi qingtonqi keji yanjiu. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe.Google Scholar
Tian, J. 2013. Zhengzhou diqu chutu erligangqi tongqi yanjiu. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Science and Technology China, Hefei.Google Scholar
Tong, E. 1987. Shilun woguo cong dongbei zhi xinan de biandi banyue xing wenhua chuanbo dai, in Tong, E. (ed.) Zhongguo xinan minzu kaogu lunwenji: 17–43. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Wang, H. 2014. China's first empire? Interpreting the material record of the Erligang expansion, in Steinke, K. & Ching, D.C.Y. (ed.) Art and archaeology of the Erligang civilization: 67–97. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Wang, L. & Fu, L.. 2015. Lun keshiketengqi Xiquegou tongkuang yizhi ji xiangguan wenti. Kaogu 2015 (4): 79–87.Google Scholar
Wang, Q. 2002. Metalworking technology and deterioration of Jin bronzes from the Tianma-Qucun site, Shanxi, China. Oxford: Archaeopress.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wei, G., Qin, Y., Wang, C., Liu, B. & Wang, G.. 2006. Dajing kuangye yizhi yelian chanwu de shuchu fangxiang. Bulletin of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry 3: 254–59.Google Scholar
Wu, Z. 2012. Shang Zhou qingtongqi mingwe ji tuxiang jicheng. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe.Google Scholar
Yu, Y. 2015. Hubei Suizhou Yejiashan mudi chutu Xi Zhou qingtongqi de kexue fenxi yanjiu. PhD dissertation, University of Science and Technology, Beijing.Google Scholar
Zhao, C. 2005. Qianzhangda mudi chutu tongqi de huaxue zucheng fenxi yu yanjiu, in Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo (ed.) Tengzhou Qianzhangda Mudi: 648–73. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Pollard supplementary material

Pollard supplementary material

Download Pollard supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 39.6 KB