Based on chemical and mineralogical examination of casting cores to determine the foundry area of bronze vessels from the Xiaxiangpu site in Nanyang city, Henan Province, China

Abstract

XRF and XRD analysis were conducted on clay cores inside seven bronze artifacts belonged to E State from the Xiaxiangpu site (c. 885–650 BCE). The aims of the study are to discuss whether it is the metal raw materials or the finished bronze artifacts were imported, and whether the E State still had political and technical conditions to make sacrificial vessels after its rebellion. The contrastive analysis of major compositions and trace elements with other reference objects indicates that the raw materials of clay cores were came from local sources. Contrary to the outside lead ore, it is highly likely that E State imported the metal raw materials and cast bronze artifacts in local workshops independently. The autonomy of such act confirms that E State still kept the aristocracy and economic and political strength after the military unrest in the late Zhou Dynasty.