Study On The Spacers Of Bronzes Unearthed From The Da He Kou Cemetery And Heng Shui Cemetery

Spacers,also called metal chaplets,refer to small pieces of metal that are placed between the fan and the core to support and fix the fan and the core or the core and the core when using piece-mold casting technology to make Chinese ancient bronzes.In this article,the bronzes unearthed from the Dahekou cemetery and Hengshui cemetery are taken as research objects.Through physical observation and X-ray imaging technology,the way of setting the Spacers in the two cemeteries is carefully analyzed.Based on the observations,the role of Spacers in the bronze casting and the reasons for the changes in the way of setting the Spacers were discussed in detail,and compared with the methods of setting the bronze Spacers unearthed from tombs and sites in other areas during the Western Zhou Dynasty.The spacers were commonly and regularly used on the Dahekou cemetery and Hengshui cemetery,and the arrangement of some utensils has time changes.In the early Western Zhou Dynasty,there are two main ways to set thespacers at the bottom of the Ding:One was set at the center of the bottom of the Ding,and the other was set at the center of the three legs of the Ding.In the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty,the Dingdi Fan gasket appeared in a way close to the legs.Spacers setting of other three legs bronzes have been set near the legs since the early Western Zhou Dynasty.In the early Western Zhou Dynasty,the spacers on walls ofthree legs bronzes were not universal.Most of them were only found sporadically.Only the two Ding in Hengshui cemetery were set regularly.Beginning in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty,the spacers on the walls of the three legs bronzes was common.And beginning in the early Western Zhou Dynasty,the walls of circle legs bronzes has been provided with 1-3 weeks of spacers.The setting of the bottom spacers of the Dahekou circle legs bronzes has not changed.The number is 1-6 pieces.Starting in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty,the bottom spacers of circle legs bronzes will be a new way of setting 1-2 blocks in the middle and different numbers in four weeks.In the late Western Zhou Dynasty,most of the artifacts in the two cemeteries have been turned into wares,and no new setting method has been used for the spacers.Some of the wares use mud chaplets instead of spacers.The change of the bottom spacers of square bronzes is similar to the Ding that from the center of the connecting line of the legs to the distribution near the four legs or four corners.By observing the setting of the spacers in two cemetery,it is found that the role of the spacers on the bottom and the walls is different.The change of the spacers setting method in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty was affected by the casting process and social needs.It also has a certain relationship with the Bronze Inscription.The setting of the spacers in two cemeteries is also found in other cemeteries.But it isdifferent from the Qiangpan that unearthed in Zhou Yuan.