Metallographical and elemental analysis of the bronzes of the Warring States Period and the Eastern Han Dynasty excavated from Qiaojiayuan burial site in Yunxian,Hubei Province
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(1.Department of Scientific History and Archaeometry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China ; :2.Key Labaratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044 ;: 3.Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430077, China ;:4.County Museum of Shiyan, Shiyan, Hubei 442000, China)

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    Abstract:

    From March to December in 2006, as part of the Chinese SouthNorth Water Diversion Project, archaeological surveys and excavations were conducted at the Qiaojiayuan village in Yun County by archaeologists from the Institution of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Hubei Province and other archaeological institutions, revealing a tomb cluster and remarkable artifact assemblages, including elaborately designed and cast bronzes. Since case studies and technical investigations of the ancient bronzes found in northwestern Hubei Province have been rarely reported, and the bronzes of the Warring States Period and the Eastern Han Dynasty excavated from the Qiaojiayuan tombs have not been analyzed technically, the present work endeavored to analyze these bronzes by metallurgical examination and Xray Fluorescence (XRF). Samples from 14bronzes (mostly utilitarian artifacts) in burials at the Qiaojiayuan tomb cluster were collected for this purpose. The results show that 1) Except one inlaid wire of a bronze pot which is CuSn binary alloy with low tin content, all the others are CuPb bronzes; and 2) the investigated bronzes are mostly cast bronzes, but techniques such as hot and cold forging, metal core support, copper inlay were also used. These preliminary results provided data for further study of the production of bronzes of the Warring States to Eastern Han periods in Hubei.

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History
  • Received:October 13,2011
  • Revised:January 15,2012
  • Adopted:
  • Online: May 20,2013
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