Research On The Bronze From The West Cemetery In JingGouZi, Liaoxi ChiFeng Region

JingGouZi is a new type of culture at the late of Bronze Age in XiLaMuLun river of Liaoxi ChiFeng Region. So far, only the cemetery in the west of JingGouZi remains the most abundant materials. Most of bronze from the cemetery in the west of JingGouZi were studied. By researching the type of bronze、 alloy composition, microstructure, lead isotopes, bronze technology, sources of mineral and so on, Obtained features and level of bronze production technology in the area could enrich the content of research on the bronze culture in the west of LiaoNing area. The results also provide important references for the content of JingGouZi type, and analysis the similar cultural relics.The bronze in the cemetery of the west of JingGouzi has the typical style of northern ethnic minorities. In total, there are30species with832pieces (576is integral), including ornaments and a small amount of weapons, tools. About95%of them are the ornaments. About89%of the bronzes have simple and rustic ornaments. Round convex lattice straight edge dagger, copper chains, bells, fox head shaped ornaments display a unique culture of JingGouzi.91.4%of the alloy composition in the174samples are Cu-Sn-Pb alloy, No elements of antimony and bismuth were found, but trace elements of Ag and As were found in some of the samples.69%of the samples have the inclusions of Cuprous Sulfate. There is relationship between the alloy composition and the type of objects. It shows that the artisans can select the raw material of bronze with different alloy composition according to requirements of the use. They can also select tin bronze alloy with better mechanical properties according to the function of objects.Because the lead isotope in Cu-Sn-Pb alloy samples which is typical in the cemetery of the west of JingGouZi is more concentrated, we can make a conclusion that the mineral material is not from the ancient copper mine ruins in DaJing, or the modern copper mine in the west of DaiHuangShan, and they weren’t smelted in the ruins of copper smelting sites in DaiHuangShan. The analysis above proved the opinion that the residents from the cemetery of the west of JingGouZi were belonged to the Northern Asia Mongolian people who were from the Mongolian plateau or from the outside of Baikal region down the southern route. And it was an accident that they appeared in the valley of XiLaMuLun river.The bronze production technology in the cemetery of the west of JingGouZi includes casting, forging and cold working.78%of the154samples are the casting composition by metallurgical analyses. Among these samples, there is a little hot forging or cold working composition. The artisan can produce the objects according to the different technology. In order to get the desired properties, the artisan made the hot forging and cold working for the tip or top of the blade. They have the ability to master all the kind of casting technologies, hot forging and cold working. They can produce a small amount of artifacts with high quality. Especially for the copper foam of Class B, it shows higher casting skills and not found in the other types of culture. Overall, the technology of bronze production is relatively backward, and there is a big difference between the artisan’s skills. We didn’t find the evidence which shows the rapid advances of technology in the three different periods.In this study, we use the bronze from the cemetery of the west of JingGouZi as the reference. And explored the11kind of characteristic index including type, material and technologies, and iconic index including shape, ornamentation, type, location, and technical features reference index, and alloy composition, microstructure, lead isotopes, mineral sources, production methods, skills, technology penetration and other reference index, which has the important reference value for identifying the similar culture. We also analysed the cultural properties of individual samples. And from the perspective of bronze production technology level, we can learn historical inevitability by analyzing the rise, decline and fall of the type of JingGouzi in the XiLaMuLun river basin.