On the provenance study method of the archaeological relics based on styles and distributions

Abstract The provenance study of the artificial products among the archaeological artifacts is an important content of the archaeological research. The relevant methods applied in the academic field at present all have their effectiveness as well as limitations. Focusing on the practices and experiences in the study on the bronze mirror casting industry in the Linzi City Site of the Qi State in Shandong, this paper puts forward the provenance estimation method based on the styles and distributions of the artificial products, which suggests that different production places (origins) produced different local styles, while the products made in each origin were circulated in the zone with the origin as the center. Therefore, according to the spatial distribution of the artificial products, the location with the most densely distributed products with this style could be inferred as their origin. Then, this paper discussed the identification and summarization of the “origin style”, the observation and analyses of the regional distribution and the estimation and confirmation of the origins, the scope of application of this method and other relevant issues in the application of this provenance estimation method.