The chemical compositions of the glazes and pigments of 39 blue-and-white porcelains of Ming Dynasty date and three of Yuan date were examined by SR-XRF. Both the analysis of the Fe/Mn ratio in the light blue areas of the glaze and a comparison of the Fe/Mn values between light blue, dark blue and clear glaze areas reveals that the samples can be divided into three groups. The results indicate that there are two significant changes of provenance of blue pigment during the Ming Dynasty and that some kinds of pigment were most probably imported from the Middle East. Considering literature records and other scholars' studies, an outline picture of the pigment used on Chinese blue-and-white porcelain produced in Jingdezhen in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties is presented.

Horseback riding was a transformative force in the ancient world, prompting radical shifts in human mobility, warfare, trade, and interaction. In China, domestic horses laid the foundation for trade, communication, and state infrastructure along the ancient Silk Road, while also stimulating key military, social, and political changes in Chinese society. Nonetheless, the emergence and adoption of mounted horseback riding in China is still poorly understood, particularly due to a lack of direct archaeological data. Here we present a detailed osteological study of eight horse skeletons dated to ca. 350 BCE from the sites of Shirenzigou and Xigou in Xinjiang, northwest China, prior to the formalization of Silk Road trade across this key region. Our analyses reveal characteristic osteological changes associated with equestrian practices on all specimens. Alongside other relevant archaeological evidence, these data provide direct evidence for mounted horseback riding, horse equipment, and mounted archery in northwest China by the late first millennium BCE. Most importantly, our results suggest that this region may have played a crucial role in the spread of equestrian technologies from the Eurasian interior to the settled civilizations of early China, where horses facilitated the rise of the first united Chinese empires and the emergence of transcontinental trade networks.

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Fourteen Minai sherds and one sherd of lajvardina (12th to 13th centuries AD) from several archaeological sites in Iran and Egypt are analysed to clarify the colourants used and the technology of the coloured enamels. The manufacturing process of the coloured enamels and the correlation of the cobalt blue pigment with that used on Chinese blue-and-white porcelain are discussed, based on microscopic examination and chemical composition analysis. This reveals that various processes were used to make the coloured enamels and the tin-opacified lead-alkali glaze of the Minai ware, close to the description given by Abū'l Qasim. Chemical analyses indicate that hematite, chromite, tin oxide, manganese dioxide, copper oxide and cobalt oxide are the colourants for the coloured enamels. Further analysis confirms that the blue pigment applied to Chinese Yuan dynasty blue-and-white porcelain is the same as that used for Minai wares, which probably came from the village of Qamsar, in Kashan County, Iran. It was called sulaimani in Iran and sumali, sumani or suboni blue in China.

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SR-μXRF mapping analysis to explore the painting process of ancient Chinese red and white porcelain.

A fast and direct characterization of blue-and-white porcelain glaze from Jingdezhen is proposed using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

To produce useful information about the raw materials used in northern Chinese Yaozhou celadon glazes Chinese glazes (especially the source of the calcium‐bearing flux), Sr isotope analysis has been used for the first time. Yaozhou celadon is one of the most important representatives of northern Chinese greenware. The study has enhanced our understanding of the raw material sources used to make Yaozhou glazes dating from the Tang to Northern Song dynasties. It is highly likely that ‘Fuping stone’ mentioned in the historical record is not the main raw material used to make Yaozhou celadon glazes of the Tang to Northern Song dynasties. The results of 87Sr/86Sr analysis of the Yaozhou celadon glazes studied produce relatively consistent 87Sr/86Sr isotopic signatures, with a wide variation of relatively high Sr concentrations. This is firm evidence that a calcium‐bearing plant ash was the source of the calcium and of the flux in the Celedon glazes studied, and not, as some have suggested, limestone or ‘Liaojiang stone’. The study had illustrated that the present approach has great potential in providing a new way of reconstructing porcelain glaze technology.