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Copper-base metal supply during the northern Vietnamese Bronze and Iron Ages: metallographic, elemental, and lead isotope data from Dai Trach, Thành Dên, Gò Mun, and Xuân Lâp

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Abstract

We present the results of metallographic, elemental, and lead isotope analyses of one slag and 27 copper-base artefacts from northern Vietnam. These artefacts come from four sites: Dai Trach, Thành Dên, Gò Mun, Xuân Lâp and are attributed to the Đồng Đậu (ca. 1300–1000 BC), Gò Mun (ca. 1000–700 BC), and Đông Sơn (ca. 700 BC–100 AD) cultures, the two former being Bronze Age (18 samples) and the latter Iron Age (10 samples). Twenty-two of the samples have as-cast microstructures, with one having been quenched, three evidencing working and annealing, and one too corroded to tell. Despite variable corrosion levels, all metal samples are identified as bronzes, rather than copper, though seven are leaded bronzes. All the leaded alloys are Iron Age, which is typical for the region. Lead isotope results were notable, in that none of the study samples is consistent with the known prehistoric Southeast Asian copper production signatures, an unusual occurrence in recent regional provenance research. There is some compatibility with Thai Bronze Age copper-base artefacts, but generally it seems there was only weak overlap in exchange systems between northern Vietnam and southern Mainland Southeast Asia, with northern Laos as a possible frontier zone. Further archaeometallurgical prospection and characterisation in northern Vietnam are needed to identify primary production loci, but sources in the southern Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong are also probable.

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Notes

  1. Southeast Asian Lead Isotope Project 2008–2015, subsequently Bronze and Glass as Cultural Catalysts and Tracers in Early Southeast Asia 2016–2020, projects.

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Acknowledgements

We offer our warm thanks to the Vietnamese museum curators, archaeologists, and the relevant state authorities who provided us study and sampling access as well as export permits. We are also grateful for the comments of two anonymous reviewers, though any errors are our own.

Funding

The laboratory analyses presented here were financed by the French National Research project “Bronze and Glass as Cultural Catalysts and Tracers in Early Southeast Asia 2016-2020” (BROGLASEA, ANR-16-CE27-0011-01) directed by T.O. Pryce.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay-CEA, NIMBE-LAPA, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    T. O. Pryce, Mélissa Cadet & Eddy Foy

  2. Department of Anthropology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, McElhaney Hall, 441 North Walk, Indiana, PA, 15705, USA

    Francis Allard

  3. Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5240 Sewell Social Sciences Building, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Nam C. Kim

  4. Prehistoric Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, 61 Phan Chu Trinh, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

    Trinh Hoang Hiep

  5. University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU: Hanoi, 336 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hà Nội, Vietnam

    Lam Thi My Dung

  6. Department of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Humanities Building, CUHK, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong

    Wengcheong Lam

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  1. T. O. Pryce
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Correspondence to T. O. Pryce.

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The authors declare no competing interests. All samples were exported from Vietnam with the express permission of the relevant authorities.

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Pryce, T.O., Cadet, M., Allard, F. et al. Copper-base metal supply during the northern Vietnamese Bronze and Iron Ages: metallographic, elemental, and lead isotope data from Dai Trach, Thành Dên, Gò Mun, and Xuân Lâp. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 14, 16 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01489-9

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