East Tianshan Mountain Area Sites Of Bronze And Early Iron Age Pottery Making Craft And The Origin Of The Related Research

The eastern area of Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang province, mainly including Hami city, Balikun county and Yiwu county, are the key regions connecting Xinjiang with inland of China. Moreover, they are also the hallway of Silk Road where central plains of China lead into western countries. In recent years, remarkable achievements have been gained in archeological work in Xinjiang. A large numbers of tombs and remains, centred from Bronze Age to early period of Iron Age, are unearthed in eastern area of Tianshan Mountains, which arise worldwide concerns in academic circles. Those huge amounts of ceramic relics offer great help on scientific study of local potteries, providing substantial material evidence in not only the division of archaeological culture type regions but also the analysis of distinct culture type exchange among sites and other common interest issues.In this paper, we selected local pottery samples from11different typical ruins as our research object. We use DIL, EDXRF, ICP-AES and some other scientific analytical techniques to measure the original firing temperature and both major and trace elements of those specimens respectively. Afterwards we analyze the results scientifically and quantitatively by using multivariate method and other convincing mathematical means. Finally, we gain the correlative information about regional pottery manufacture craft and provenance. Main conclusions are shown as following:(1) There are certain disparities in manufacture craft of unearthed potteries in different sites within eastern area of Tianshan Mountains. A portion of those potteries among three distinct culture type sites have similar water-intake rate and original firing temperature. However, generally speaking, pottery’s water-intake rate is relatively lower and original firing temperature is relatively higher in Yanbulake culture site (in the south of eastern area of Tianshan Mountains), whereas the situation is entirely opposite in Yuegongtai-xiheigou culture sites (in the north of eastern area of Tianshan Mountains). This illustrates that there are certain disparities in pottery-making techniques among different sites, but these places should also have some exchange of manufacture craft at the same time.(2) In eastern area of Tianshan Mountains, some of the excavated potteries were made in local places, others were made exotically, which proves that there were direct trade communications and exchanges among different sites.(3) In this paper, we discuss three kinds of culture type sites in eastern area of Tianshan Mountains (Yanbulake culture, Yuegongtai-xiheigou culture and Dongheigou-hongshankou culture). Trade and exchange not only existed within the same culture type ruin but also cross-distributed among them all, which declares that there must be relationships among the three different sites to some degree.(4) Sites excavated in eastern area of Tianshan Mountains both have cultural diversities and commercial exchange relations. Specifically speaking, comparing to the western part of Yanbulake site which mainly relied on agricultural economy, eastern part of Yanbulake site, mainly depended on livestock farming, had closer connections with two nomadic cultures in the north. So, we can reach the conclusion that culture exchange among those sites in eastern area of Tianshan Mountains must have relationships with typical migratory production and life style of nomadic cultures.(5) Both kinds of potteries, daily-use pottery vessels and funerary pottery vessels, are excavated from Dongheigou Site and Heigouliang Site in Dongheigou-hongshankou culture sites. The manufacture craft and provenance are quite different between them. All small funerary pottery vessels, the mortuary objects of tomb owner, were made in their excavation place with relatively higher water-intake rate and lower original firing temperature. On the contrary, part of the daily-use pottery vessels, the mortuary objects of human sacrifice, were made locally. The others came from exotic places, such as Yuegongtai-xiheigou and Yanbulake culture sites. They had relatively lower water-intake rate and higher original firing temperature.