Provenance Of The Eastern Zhou Proto-porcelain Wares From The Circum-tai Region

The 'Circum-Tai region' refers to the vast territory bound by the Maoshan Mountains and the Tianmu Mountains in the west,the Yangzi River in the north,and the western Shanghai City in the east,and the Qiantang River in the south.Located at the center,Lake Tai and the surrounding rivers such as Dongtiaoxi,Jingxi,Wusong,Dongjiang,and Loujiang form an enormous water transportation network,which provides a convenient venue for cultural exchange and commodity circulation within the region;in the meantime,the fertile plains around the lake ensures economic prosperity.The circum-Tai region has been an important cultural region since the Neolithic Age.It is the most concentrated area of proto-porcelain wares in China;a large number of proto-porcelain wares have been discovered in settlements and cemeteries,and large clusters of proto-porcelain kilns,the most lasting ones,have been discovered in the Dongtiaoxi River valley.Did the kilns in the valley share common sources of raw materials?Where were the proto-porcelain wares sold?Where did the proto-porcelain wares found in the settlements and cemeteries in the circum-Tai region come from?What routes were used for the circulation of the proto-porcelain wares?All these issues are concerned with production and exchange in ancient society.Earlier research has been focused on the proto-porcelain wares unearthed in northern China at the expense of the circum-Tai region.This paper analyzes samples of Eastern Zhou proto-porcelain wares unearthed in this region with the methods of archaeological typology,X-ray fluorescence spectrometry,etc.It also makes full use of data and results of previous research.The paper comes to find that proto-porcelain samples from kiln sites in northern ZhejiangProvince do not share common sources of raw materials.Kiln sites that do not share common sources of raw materials can effectively be distinguished by certain diagnostic elements or values(majorelements K,Fe,Na,etc.,minor elements such as V,Ba,Zn,Co,Cr,etc.,Rb/Sr ratios).Kiln sites at Wangjiashan,Changshan,Tingziqiao,which are located in Deqing County and relatively close,have the same sources of raw materials;while the kiln sites at Nanshan and Piaoshan,which are located in Huzhou City,and the kiln site at Huoshaoshan,which are located in Deqing County,have another source of raw materials.The kiln site at Beijiashan,which is located in Huzhou City,has a third source;a part of its raw materials is similar to those of the kiln site at Piaoshan,which is geographically close,while a part of its materials is similar to those of the kiln site at Wangjiashan,Changshan,Tingziqiao,which are located in Deqing County and far away,and demonstrate that raw materials were transported over long distance.Samples of Eastern Zhou proto-porcelain wares from settlements and tombs in southern Jiangsu Province and western Shanghai City are divided into group A and group B,with method of typology.Group A samples are formally similar to those unearthed from the kiln sites in Deqing County.Group B samples are different from those from the kiln sites in Deqing County,although similarities are observable.The compositional of the glaze of the abovementioned samples confirms the grouping.Group A samples are compositionally similar to those of the kiln sites in Deqing County,and they shall be produced in the middle part of the Longshan Group of kiln site in Deqing County.Group B samples differ compositionally from those of the kiln site group in Deqing County,characterized by high potassium and high barium,and are similar to those of the kiln site at Nanshan in Huzhou City;therefore,Group B samples may be produced in the Qingshan Group of kiln sites in Huzhou City.However,Group B samples and the Nanshan kiln site are somehow different in chemical composition;hence one cannot rule out the possibility that samples of Group B were not produced in northern Zhejiang Province.The Eastern Zhou proto-porcelain wares in the circum-Tai Region,as their locations indicate,were distributed along the rivers from northern Zhejiang Province through Lake Tai and the main river systems,which constituted a complex transportation network.The transportation network started from the Dongtiaoxi River of northern Zhejiang Province,and spread along the northern and western banks of Lake Tai,and further into the valleys of the Dongtiaoxi River,Jingxi River,Lake Tao,Lake Ge,Songjiang River,Loujiang River and Dongjiang River.In this network,Suzhou City and Wuxi City,which were on the northern bank of Lake Tai,may be the important redistribution centers of proto-porcelain wares;beyond these centers,proto-porcelain wares were further transported to Changzhou,Zhenjiang,Shanghai,and the southern bank of the Yangtze River through Jingxi River,Lake Tao,Lake Ge,Songjiang River,Loujiang River,Dongjiang River,and other artificial canals.