Early bronze in two Holocene archaeological sites in Gansu, NW China
Authors:
- John DodsonJDJohn Dodson
- Xiaoqiang LiXLXiaoqiang Li
- Ming JiMJMing Ji
- Keliang ZhaoKZKeliang Zhao
- Xinying ZhouXZXinying Zhou
- Vladimir LevchenkoVLVladimir Levchenko
- 1 November 2009
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Quaternary Research
- Vol. 72 (3) , 309-314
Abstract
Understanding of the origin and development of bronze technology in eastern Asia remains unresolved. Here we report on the distribution of copper and associated cations in sediments from Huoshiliang in northwestern Gansu, China, strontium and lead isotope analyses of ore and slag samples, and some artifact fragments at archaeological sites at Ganggangwa and Huoshiliang in the Black River valley.We conclude that bronze production began perhaps as early as 2135 BC and that the Baishantang modern mine site at Dingxin was a possible source of copper ore. There was at least one other, but currently unidentified, source of ore. The Bronze Age people were also farmers and planted cereals such as wheat, and they may have abandoned the region when wood was exhausted and desertification took over.Keywords
This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit:
- Seven Thousand Years of Records on the Mining and Utilization of Metals from Lake Sediments in Central ChinaEnvironmental Science & Technology, 2008
- An overview of Mesopotamian bronze metallurgy during the 3rd millennium BCJournal of Cultural Heritage, 2005
- Intcal04 Terrestrial Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 0–26 Cal Kyr BPRadiocarbon, 2004
- Single-stage method for the simultaneous isolation of lead and strontium from silicate samples for isotopic measurementsAnalytica Chimica Acta, 2001
- Chemical and structural properties of ancient metallic artefacts: multitechnique approach to study of early bronzesBritish Corrosion Journal, 2000
- Trace analysis of ancient gold objects using radiochemical neutron activation analysisJournal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 1999
- Instrumental neutron activation analysis of native copper: Some methodological considerationsJournal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 1995
- Bronze Age Copper Sources in the Mediterranean: A New ApproachScience, 1982
- Strontium Isotope Geology1972
- Genetic Relations of Oceanic Basalts as Indicated by Lead IsotopesScience, 1966