Lacquered gauze excavated from the Haiqu Han Tombs and its material culture and lacquer crafts
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(1. Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Conservation, Restoration and Identification Center, Jinan 250100, China;2. Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning 530006, China;3. Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, Shanghai 201620, China;4. Boston University, Boston 02215, USA;5. National Centre for Archaeology, Beijing 100013, China;6. School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China)

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    Abstract:

    The archaeological fabric fragments excavated from the Haiqu Han Tombs in Rizhao are invaluable Han Dynasty items of textile heritage in Shandong, and also precious physical materials of earlier age silk fabrics throughout the entire Shandong region. The lacquering technique is one of the extraordinary traditional crafts in China and is also a unique and prevalent fabric finishing technique in ancient times. In the Han Dynasties, lacquering was often used in the process of making crowns and shoes in order to achieve an equivalent purpose as the modern finishing technique, that is, to functionally modify textiles, to make silk fabrics stiff, firm and waterproof. The black network-structure fragments were investigated using several analytical methods such as ultra depth-of-field microscopic observation, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy-energy spectrometry, and laser Raman spectrometry. The excavated fragment materials were thus identified as follows: the inner core yarn was mulberry silk, with lacquer decorated outside. Cinnabar, etc. were also added to the lacquer part as color components. Specifically, according to the Raman spectrometric result, albite was present as one of the additives into the lacquer ash layer. Based on the distribution of shell midden sites in the Jiaodong Peninsula, where the Haiqu Han Tombs are located, we speculated that some components of the lacquer ash layer in the lacquered gauze might come from the use of shell in the rich remains of shell midden sites. Although relevant research has currently been less developed in the field of marine archaeology and marine regional archaeology, this study provides unique value in tracing the usage of natural materials and exploring regional crafts in the early period of human beings.

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History
  • Received:March 01,2022
  • Revised:October 09,2024
  • Adopted:
  • Online: March 04,2025
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