Micro-slag and “invisible” copper processing activities at a Middle-Shang period (14th-13th century BC) bronze casting workshop

Liu, Siran; He, Xiaolin; Chen, Jianli; Zou, Guisen; Guo, Shijia; Gong, Xicheng

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2020.105222

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This suggests that the copper-rich phase present in the slag had formed before tin was added to the charge (Li et al 2007). During melting, metallic copper can turn into cuprite due to poorly controlled redox conditions (Liu et al 2020). The copper-rich phase was likely the outcome of such an operation.…”

Section: Baidian Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wang

Gao²,

Wang

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Baidian Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%