{"title":"The use of bloomery iron in Chengdu Plain during the Easter Han dynasty: evidence from slag inclusions included in iron artifacts","authors":"Mengyi Zhang, Yulai Chen, Linjie Ge","doi":"10.1007/s12520-024-02154-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>On the basis of multivariate statistical methods, the present paper analyzed slag inclusions trapped in iron samples from the Baozishan cemetery site in Chengdu Plain of the Eastern Han dynasty (25 AD – 220 AD). The results reveal that forged iron tools from the site were all made from bloomery iron and the only weapon was forged from fined iron. As Chengdu Plain was believed to be an iron production center with cast iron tradition, the technology change revealed in the study may be due to the abolition of the iron monopoly policy and then bloomery process became another choice for independent handicraftsmen.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8214,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-024-02154-7","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
On the basis of multivariate statistical methods, the present paper analyzed slag inclusions trapped in iron samples from the Baozishan cemetery site in Chengdu Plain of the Eastern Han dynasty (25 AD – 220 AD). The results reveal that forged iron tools from the site were all made from bloomery iron and the only weapon was forged from fined iron. As Chengdu Plain was believed to be an iron production center with cast iron tradition, the technology change revealed in the study may be due to the abolition of the iron monopoly policy and then bloomery process became another choice for independent handicraftsmen.
期刊介绍:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences covers the full spectrum of natural scientific methods with an emphasis on the archaeological contexts and the questions being studied. It bridges the gap between archaeologists and natural scientists providing a forum to encourage the continued integration of scientific methodologies in archaeological research.
Coverage in the journal includes: archaeology, geology/geophysical prospection, geoarchaeology, geochronology, palaeoanthropology, archaeozoology and archaeobotany, genetics and other biomolecules, material analysis and conservation science.
The journal is endorsed by the German Society of Natural Scientific Archaeology and Archaeometry (GNAA), the Hellenic Society for Archaeometry (HSC), the Association of Italian Archaeometrists (AIAr) and the Society of Archaeological Sciences (SAS).