Analytical Approaches to Characterize the Source of Meiyuanshi-stone Using Petrographic and Geochemical Methods

Abstract

The "Meiyuanshi-stone", who has witnessed the prosperous of the Maritime Silk Road, has attracted the attention of scholars in China, Japan, and South Korea in recent years. Meiyuanshi-stone was prestige material for carving, figures or building elements of temples. Not only for authentical conservation of such stone monuments, the features of Meiyuanshi-stone provide the most direct physical information for confirming similar stone materials in China, Japan, and countries around the Maritime Silk Road. Aiming to define Mieyuanshi-stone, petrographic and geochemical investigations of rocks were carried out on samples collected from quarries and the Sumeru seat in the main hall of Baoguosi (Ningbo, Zhejiang, China). The integrated chemical data acquired by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, along with petrographic data, allowed us to ascertain the compositions of raw materials. Through comparison of petrographic features, major and trace elements contents of Meiyuanshi-, Xiaoxishi-, and Dayinshi-stone, it has been concluded that Meiyuanshi-stone is massive (no internal stratification), thick structureless, well sorted, and fine-grained trachytic tuff. By comparing petrographic and chemical features, we were able to confirm that the Sumeru seat in Baoguosi is made of Meiyuanshi-stone.