| The middle range of Yangtze River was one of the most important distribution areas of Shang culture in southern China.It is also a region where Chinese copper and tin resources are concentrated,and many Pre-Qin mining and smelting sites were identified.Among them,the Jiangxi Ruichang Tongling Site is the only mining and smelting site in the region dated to the mid-Shang Dynasty.For a long time,the origin of metal sources for the Shang culture have attracted the attention of the academic field.Scholars considered that the principal purpose of southward expansion was to obtain metal resources such as copper and tin in the south.However,there is little scientific analysis of the relevant archaeometallurgical remains of this period.There is still no scientific evidence supporting that southern copper was shipped north to the Central Plain.In order to address this problem,this thesis focuses on Ruichang Tongling site Smelting Area(Tongling Jiaotanchang Site)and uses chemical analysis,lead isotopic analysis and other means to examine the metallurgical relics excavated from the site.The metallurgical technology,production scale,spatial distribution of metallurgical relics of Tongling Site were discussed based on the analytical data.The wet-sieving was employed in the sampling of archaeometallurgy sites for the first time to effectively obtain small-sized metallurgical relics.The characteristics of these micro-slag were studied and summarized,providing important guidence for the archaeological excavation.Combining field excavation and lab-based analyses,this thesis estimated the copper yield and ore consumption of the site.Through the comprehensive analysis of metallurgical relics unearthed from the site,the existence of alloying activities at the site was confirmed for the first time.Considering the bronze artefacts unearthed at this site,it is suggested that there might be casting activity at Tongling.Through the systematic study of metallurgical relics,the metallurgical activity at Tongling site was preliminarily constructed.The site was an ancient copper mining,smelting and manufacturing site integrating mining,smelting and alloying.Combined with the wet-sieving and the analytical results,the funtions of each area of the site were preliminarily defined,and the functions of the sub-districts of the Shang Dynasty in the excavation area were initially clarified.The location of the building platform with its fuel mixing and metallurgical activities indicates that it may be a pre-treatment and command section for smelting activities,or it may be a major smelting platform but subjected to carefully cleaning of the metallurgical relics.According to the ratio of 206Pb/204Pb,the slag can be classified into high ratio group and low ratio group,and the high ratio group does not contain characteristic elements such as Ag and Sb.At least two types of ores were used for smelting.This study first identified highly-radioactive lead bearing copper ore at the archaeometallurgy site in Yangtze River Valley.Comparing with the Shang period low lead bronze artefacts(<1%),the Tongling ore showed quite different isotopic features and should not be source of highly radiogenic lead commonly found in Shang artefacts.The lead isotope ratios of slag and copper particles in the smelting furnace wall were compared,and there is significant differences.It is believed that the use of metallurgical relics for traceability should be combined with more scientific testing methods.In addition,based on a comprehensive analysis of the research results of Tongling site and related sites in northern Jiangxi,it is believed that there was a two-way circulation of copper and tin mineral resources in this region.For the research on the copper circulation of the Ruichang Tongling site,it is still necessary to carry on more scientific and technological analysis of archaeological excavated metallurgical relics and discuss the result in historical and archaeological contexts. |
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