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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)
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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 

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