Alloy Ratio and Raw Material Sourcing of Warring States Period Bronze
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Chen et al. Herit Sci (2020) 8:69 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-020-00413-z RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Alloy ratio and raw material sourcing of Warring States Period bronze bracelets in Huili County, Southwest China by pXRF and MC‑ICP‑MS Dian Chen1,2, Yingdong Yang3, Jing Du1,2,4, Xiang Tang5 and Wugan Luo1,2* Abstract Up to now, there have been few monographic analyses of metal ornaments in China. This study presents a case study of the metallurgical archaeology on bracelets from Huili (会理), which may shed light on the issue as production status, technical level, use of raw material and workmanship exchange. Ten bronze bracelets from the Fenjiwan (粪箕 湾) site, Huili County and nine ancient slags within 2 km were analyzed by pXRF and MC-ICP-MS methods. The clas- sifcation of bronze bracelets according to alloy ratio is exactly the same as that of lead isotope. One group used local copper from Huili without adding lead, while the other group added lead material from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Combined with other relevant data, the results indicate that the technology route of bronze in South- west China was from Cu-Sn binary alloys to Cu-Sn–Pb ternary alloys, and during the Warring States period (475-221 BC), this region may have certain contacts and exchanges with the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and even the Central Plains. Keywords: Bronze bracelet, Chemical composition, Lead isotope ratio, The Warring States period, pXRF, MC-ICP-MS Introduction roughly distinguished from the armband [2]. In addition, Metal is very attractive for decorative, representational, bracelets difer in many aspects such as pattern, size, gap, instrumental, ofensive or ritual purposes in both mod- cross-sectional shape, etc. ern and ancient time. Moreover, metal is relatively easy In China, the earliest known metal bracelets appeared to process into some small accessories. Among them, the in some ruins of Qijia culture (around 420–3600 BC) and bracelet is one of the most common ornaments on the Siba culture (around 3900–3400 BC) in the northwest [3, wrist or ankle, which is circular or oval in shape. Tech- 4]. After preliminary analysis, it was found that most of nically, the bracelet was frst made of bone or stone [1]. them were cast, and the raw materials were red copper After entering Bronze Age, the ancestors began to cast or arsenic copper. In the ensuing time, the metal brace- or make bracelets from metal. Specifcally, the ratio lets only spread southward along the crescent-shaped between the diameter of the bracelet and the diameter cultural-communication belt, and there was almost no of its metal wire or the width of its metal sheet is usu- trace in the Central Plains before Han Dynasty [5]. Espe- ally greater than 5, which is the main feature that can be cially when Southwest China entered bronze age, bronze bracelets began to appear on a large scale and became a prominent feature of this region [6]. *Correspondence: [email protected] Archaeological research in Southwest China in the pre- 1 Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China Han period is currently receiving increasing attention. Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Some of the results achieved in several relatively large © The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativeco mmons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/ zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. Chen et al. Herit Sci (2020) 8:69 Page 2 of 10 areas have expanded our knowledge of various aspects of tombs are straight and neat. Generally, the tombs are elon- southwestern societies during the frst millennium BC, gated rectangular in shape, 2 to 4 m long and 0.4 to 0.6 m as well as the prehistoric communications between this wide, and up to 2 m deep. Judging from the remaims, the region and areas outside its borders [7–9]. Meanwhile, burial style is mainly extended supine, and no funeral imple- the information provided by metallurgical archaeology ments are found. Pottery occupies a large proportion in has also played a pivotal role. However, most previous funerary objects, accounting for about 90%. Each tomb is research has focused on larger bronzes such as drums usually buried with 1 to 4 pieces of pottery, a few tombs up and weapons, with little attention paid to smaller objects to 10 pieces. Most of the funerary objects are placed at the involving accessories and ornaments [10]. As a portable head of the tomb, occasionally in the middle of the tomb. item, the bracelet is more personalized and more capable Black smoke marks on most potteries indicate that they of embodying cultural and technical exchange [11]. were practical utensils in life. Te yellow color character- Terefore, this paper focuses on the technical status istic of the local clay suggests that the ceramic vessels were of the bronze bracelets in the southwest before the Han locally produced. Besides, the number of bronze artifacts is Dynasty. At that time, this region was quite closed and less small and most of them are crudely made. Te main types subject to the Central Plains infuence. Te analysis of a of bronze are spears, knives, bracelets and ornaments [12, batch of bracelets from the Fenjiwan site in Huili County 14]. According to typology analysis, these tombs should be can help us to better understand the local bronze culture. in the Warring States period, and most of the objects seem By revealing alloy characteristics and raw material sources, to come from local or nearby areas [14, 15]. and combining relevant scientifc data, some issues about It is worth noting that gray-green fat-round pebbles the production status, technical level, use of raw material, were found in almost all tombs. Tere are only one peb- workmanship exchange and even external interactions in ble object in most tombs, while two or three in a few Southwestern China can be discussed in more depth. tombs. Tis funeral custom is very rare in the tombs of the same period in Southwest China. Tis discovery coin- The archaeological context and samples cides with the record of Huayangguo Zhi (华阳国志), The background of Huili which is a local chronicle book completed around 350 Huili has convenient water and land transportation, AD, specialized in ancient China’s southwestern region. and has been a turning point in the trade and com- It should be that the recorder was also impressed by this merce between southwest Sichuan, western Yunnan, and unique burial custom and felt the need to take notes [16]. South Asia since ancient times. Known as the the ‘lock of Sichuan and Yunnan’, it is across the Jinsha River from The bronze bracelet and slag samples Yunnan Province and is the gateway and fortress of the Te bracelets from the Fenjiwan site are made of plain Southern Silk Road. In addition, Huili could also reach sheet metal without decoration (Fig. 2). Tey are rela- eastward to Chongqing by the Jinsha River. Previous tively uniform in size, leaving a certain gap, and are archaeological investigations have found stone models around 6 cm in diameter. Te width and thickness of for casting copper spears and dagger-axe in Huili, which these bracelets range from 0.1 cm to 0.3 cm, and no more indicated that local casting activities existed as early as tham 0.5 cm. In addition, the cross sectional shape of all the Warring States Period [12, 13]. the bracelets is rectangular rather than circular or ellipti- As recorded in Historical Records (史记), ‘Of the doz- cal. Tis very popular type in Southwest China makes it ens of chiefs north of Dian (滇), the most important is difcult to determine whether they are infuenced by any Qiongdu (邛都)’. Book of the Later Han (后汉书) depicted particular cultural factors [11, 15]. that Qiongdu was conquered by Emperor Wu of Han, In addition, for data comparison, Huili County Ofce and the land became an administrative unit of the Han for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments provides Dynasty. Historians have concluded that the Qiongdu nine ancient slags (around the 15th century) from Raoji- people’s scope of activity was centered on today’s Xichang adi (饶家地). It is also located in Lixi Town, Huili County, City (西昌), Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture (凉山 less than 2 km from the Fenjiwan site and therefore these 彝族自治州), Sichuan Province and Huili County was on slags can adequately refect the information of local the southern border [6]. deposits and geochemical background. The archaeological site Analytical methods and results Te Fenjiwan site is located in Lixi Town, Huili County, Component analyses within 5 km from the Jinsha River (Fig.