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The features as a county of Chu State: chemical and metallurgical characteristics of the bronze artifacts from the Bayilu site

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Abstract

Twenty bronze samples from the Bayilu site (Nanyang City, Henan Province) were analyzed and compared to contemporaneous bronze artifacts. This study attempts to find out metallurgical and isotopic characteristics of the Bayilu bronzes. The results suggest the bronze artifacts are Cu-Sn-Pb alloys. Most of the bronzes were cast without secondary processing. Five samples were forged and annealed after casting, and three samples might be annealed and forged. Lead isotope data of the samples display a large range. High amount of Ag and Sb may be a trace elemental signature of the Bayilu bronzes. The major elements, the manufacture process, the lead isotope ratios, and the trace elements all have diversities. Compared to contemporary bronze artifacts, some of the samples show characteristics of the bronzes of Chu State. It indicates Shen County might be involved in the political and economic system of Chu State. It is also possible that some of the Bayilu bronzes are imported from somewhere outside Chu State. Combined with the historical background of Shen County, the diversity of the bronzes may be a signature as a border county.

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Funding

This research is supported by the Junior Fellowships for CAST Advanced Innovation Think-tank Program (DXB-2KQN-2016-031), the National Scholarship Fund of China (CSC No. 201404910198), the National Social Science Fund of China (No. 13BKG004), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41471167).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People’s Republic of China

    Di Mu

  2. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, People’s Republic of China

    Di Mu, Wugan Luo & Guoding Song

  3. Department of Archaeometry, School of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Di Mu, Wugan Luo & Guoding Song

  4. Nanyang Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Nanyang, 473000, Henan, People’s Republic of China

    Baotong Qiao & Fengjian Wang

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  1. Di Mu
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  2. Wugan Luo
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  3. Guoding Song
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  4. Baotong Qiao
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  5. Fengjian Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Di Mu.

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Fig. S1

Photographs of the bronze pieces from the Bayilu site used as samples. (GIF 216 kb).

High-Resolution Image (TIFF 1020 kb).

Table S1

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Mu, D., Luo, W., Song, G. et al. The features as a county of Chu State: chemical and metallurgical characteristics of the bronze artifacts from the Bayilu site. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11, 1123–1129 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0596-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0596-8

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