Bronze smelting activities during the Zhou dynasty: Analysis of slags from the Xincun and Baidian foundry sites in Central China

Abstract

The highly developed metallurgy in Central China during the Zhou dynasty represents an important stage in the development of mining and metallurgical civilisation. The Xincun and Baidian foundry sites are important sites found in Central China, with the main remains of the Wei and Jin states, respectively. Elemental analyses and microstructural examinations of slags from both the sites were conducted in this paper, aiming to reconstruct the technological landscape of bronze alloys and smelting processes at both the sites, and to further explore the differences or/and similarities between the bronze processing activities at the two sites in different historical contexts. The results showed that the co-smelting of tin ore with metallic copper was still used in the alloying process at both the Xincun and Baidian foundry sites. Also, the smelting temperatures at both the sites were relatively high with the addition of calcareous fluxes to the process. In comparison, the Baidian foundry site was found to have a more diverse type of alloying technologies and more advanced metallurgical process than the Xincun foundry site, indicating a more advanced metallurgy in the Jin state than in the Wei state. These findings provide valuable insights into metallurgy in these areas and have important implications for future research in this field.