China and the steppe: reception and resistance

Rawson, Jessica

doi:10.15184/aqy.2016.276

Cited by 52 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…It is important to note that although regions such as the Chengdu Plain, Hanzhong and northern Shaanxi were probably not under the direct control of Shang political power and might have developed their own metallurgical industries, they had cultural connections with people in the Central Plains (e.g., von Falkenhausen ; Chen et al . ; Rawson ). Shang‐period China was home to a multitude of metallurgical traditions, connected through a complex network of metal exchange and trade (see e.g., Chen et al .…”

Section: The Provenance Of Shang‐period Bronzesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Did China Import Metals from Africa in the Bronze Age?

Liu

Chen

Mei³

et al. 2018

Archaeometry

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The origins of the copper, tin and lead for China's rich Bronze Age cultures are a major topic in archaeological research, with significant contributions being made by archaeological fieldwork, archaeometallurgical investigations and geochemical considerations. Here, we investigate a recent claim that the greater part of the Shang-period metalwork was made using metals from Africa, imported together with the necessary know-how to produce tin bronze. A brief review of the current status of lead isotopic study on Shang-period bronze artefacts is provided first, clarifying a few key issues involved in this discussion. It is then shown that there is no archaeological or isotopic basis for bulk metal transfer between Africa and China during the Shang period, and that the copper and lead in Shang bronze with a strongly radiogenic signature is not likely to be from Africa. We call for collaborative interdisciplinary research to address the vexing question of the Shang period's metal sources, focusing on smelting sites in geologically defined potential source regions and casting workshops identified at a number of Shang settlements. KEYWORDS: LEAD ISOTOPES, HIGHLY RADIOGENIC LEAD, SHANG BRONZE, PROVENANCE INTRODUCTIONMost major Bronze Age civilizations developed in the catchments of large rivers that were sustaining a high population density through intensive agriculture. These areas, however, are almost always devoid of mineral resources, which are typically exposed only in mountainous areas, remote from the centres of agricultural civilization. Thus, these centres were dependent on distant areas to provide their strategically important metals, primarily copper, tin and gold, but also lead and silver. Substantive research has identified major copper sources for Egypt, Mesopotamia and Chen et al. 2009Chen et al. , 2016Pollard et al. 2017). Among these, Shang-period bronzes dated between the 16th and 11th centuries BCE stand out due to their highly distinctive isotopic and chemical compositions. The identification of the geological source(s) of this metal is a long-standing issue in Chinese archaeology, which has attracted considerable research interest from many scholars of various disciplinary backgrounds. A recent paper by Sun et al. (2016) is a new, but unconvincing, attempt to answer this question. It not only claims that 'the Yin-Shang people may have learned bronze technology elsewhere and brought it to China ' (Sun et al. 2016, 5), but it also concludes that 'both the Yin-Shang and the Sanxingdui bronzes were obtained in Africa, bearing the highly radiogenic lead isotopic signatures of Africa's Archean cratons. Alternatively, some ancient people might have come to China from Africa, carrying tin and/or bronzes with them' (Sun et al. 2016, 6). These hypotheses are undoubtedly bold and eye-catching, but unfortunately are also fundamentally flawed. In this paper, we offer a brief summary of currently available research on highly radiogenic lead found in ancient Shang bronzes, clarifying a few key issues that were m...

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Section: The Provenance Of Shang‐period Bronzesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Did China Import Metals from Africa in the Bronze Age?

Liu

Chen

Mei³

et al. 2018

Archaeometry

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“…Общность их происхождения, вероятно, связана с близким субстратом, определяемым на данном этапе как монгун-тайгинская культура. Формирование в Туве культурного комплекса аржанского типа, несомненно, было составной частью процессов, происходивших далеко на юго-востоке, в пограничной зоне государств Древнего Китая, которая определяется Джессикой Роусон как Дуга (Rawson, 2017). Однако по-прежнему актуальной задачей остается определение направления вектора влияний, обусловивших очевидные параллели в культурном комплексе памятников предскифского времени Кавказа и Северного Причерноморья, с одной стороны, и Аржана, с другой.…”

Section: Annotation At the Example Of The Periodization Of Archaeolounclassified

Tuva in the first millennium BC: a model of multiculturalism

Chugunov¹

2020

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Первая страница-Роговая поясная пряжка из кургана 13 могильника Саглы-Бажи II (к статье Л. С. Марсадолова) Fist page of cover-Horn belt buckle from barrow 13 at the cemetery of Sagly-Bazhi II (article by L. S. Marsadolov) Четвертая страница-Дорога в Старый Шагонар (ныне-дно Тувинского моря) и петроглифы Овюра (петроглифы-к статье В. С. Бусовой, М. Е. Килуновской) Fourth page-Road to Stary (Old) Shagonar (now bottom of the Tuva Sea) and petroglyphs in Ovyur (petroglyphs-article by V. S. Busova and M. E. Kilunovskaya)

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“…Together with bronze ritual vessels, a range of other characteristics make China remarkably distinct from the rest of Eurasia, encompassing the widespread use of lead in the alloy (particularly highly radiogenic lead; Jin et al . ), piece‐mould casting and mass production systems (Rawson ).…”

Section: An Archaeological Case Study: Changes In Alloying Practice Imentioning

confidence: 99%

From Alloy Composition to Alloying Practice: Chinese Bronzes

et al. 2018

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We propose a new methodology based on standard statistical processes for displaying and rigorously comparing the alloy composition of archaeological bronze alloys. Although traditional approaches using visual comparisons of histograms of alloying elements in an assemblage of archaeological objects are adequate for observing differences between these distributions, we argue that differences in sample size cannot be adequately accounted for without using a statistical approach. We demonstrate this methodology by comparing the alloy composition of bronzes from the sequence of Bronze Age cultures in Central China-Erlitou, Erligang (Zhengzhou, or early Shang), Anyang (late Shang) and Western Zhou. We suggest that this approach allows the identification and rigorous comparison of 'regional alloying practices', which in turn enables us to link the alloy composition of the objects with the intentions and skills of foundry workers.

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China and the steppe: reception and resistance

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 52 publications

References 18 publications

Did China Import Metals from Africa in the Bronze Age?

Did China Import Metals from Africa in the Bronze Age?

Tuva in the first millennium BC: a model of multiculturalism

From Alloy Composition to Alloying Practice: Chinese Bronzes

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