Identification And Analysis Of Archaeology Wood In Jiangsu Province

Paper takes the whole Jiangsu province as a object, with on-the-spot investigation, conbined with some relative researches, analyzing the synthetical status of archaeology wood in the area.Base on the investigation study results which conclude species, usages, locations of the woods,we take a further study and discussing on these wood. Study chooses three places as main on-the-spot investigation workplaces which are tomb on mountain Dayunshan, tomb in Highway Jinma, traditional constructions in Qingguo Street in Changzhou. Study identified a plenty of archaeology wood collected from investigation and analyzed their usage and tried to examine the chemical compounds of part samples.To make the study more reliable, paper explored a useful method to distinguish Phoebe sp.more scientific. The research on five genera in Lauraceae shows that compared with Cinnamomum, Machilus, Litsea, and Lindera, species of Phoebe have much compounds relating to naphthalene which can not be found in the rest among the five genera. So it can be an important factor to distinguish Phoebe.Combining the chemical method explored earlier, we identified and analyzed a plenty of archaeology wood which from tomb built in Han dynasty located in maoutain Dayun, Xuyi.Study shows that in tomb the spiecies for coffins are mainly Phoebe spp., Cunninghamia lanceolata, catalpa spp. and for grave artifacts are Morus spp., Cudrania spp., Phoebe spp.,Cunninghamia lanceolata, catalpa spp., Ulmus spp., Pteroceltis tatarinowii, Castanopsis spp.bamboos, etc. The results of identification shows that the major material for coffin in tomb Dayunshan is Phoebe spp., while in tomb Jinma is Machilus spp. which have the same usage of Phoebe but lower quality. It means that wood choice would be different between two tombs when they are not in a same grade. The study on usage of all species shows that in tombs, the wood material are very abundant, most of them being used with their nature property. And sometimes, the ancients use many species to make one part in order to exchange flaws into benefits subtly. All the clues imply that the knowledge and skill of using wood of ancient people in Han dynasty was at a quite high level.Identification on history constructions in Qingguo Street, Changzhou shows that the species for building are mainly Cunninghamia lanceolata, Pinus sp.. Some other spiecies like Phoebe sp.,Zelkova sp., Schima sp. are also found in these constructions. Analysis of usage of wood shows that in the south of Jiangsu, local people prefer to use Cunninghamia lanceolata from Hunan,Guangzhou, Fujian, which is long and straight and less scar. In some top grade room, Phoebe sp.will be used for beam and column. These rooms so called Nanmu Hall is usually found in Suzhou.Sometimes Pinus sp. is used for some occasion when big Cunninghamia lanceolata is not available or lack of money. It need antiseptic treatment before apply to building.At last, paper synthesizing some other researches, gathered a lot of basical data ofarchaeology wood in Jiangsu which is published on paper. Analysis in many different way has been taken to these data and gained some results which could be a demonstration for new researches come later. The analysis shows that in Han dynasty, the major coffin material in Jiangsu is Phoebe sp. or Machilus sp. and there is no difference between districts of south and north. This means coffin material in that time was unified planning and able to transport from other area. In Ming and Qing dynasty, there are differences in construction between districts of south and north. The reason is plant difference caused by climate and particularly because the south of Jiangsu was richer than the north and had well developed transportation. Kind of wood species in constructions in Qingguo Street changing from Ming dynasty to the period Republic of China, shows a process that Cunninghamia lanceolata got popular, then nearly ran out. The analysis to ancient boat is also shows a similar conclusion to traditional constructions above. All after all, there are many regular pattern existing among these data, which could imply and clarify many facts. It implies that a research base on the database of archaeology wood in Jiangsu province has a bright future.