Identification of source mine using sulfur, mercury, and lead isotope analyses of vermilion used in three representative tombs from Kofun period in Japan

Abstract

Vermilion, a precious red pigment that was used in ancient times, was believed to protect the dead from evil beings and was thus used in burial facilities in China and Japan. Vermilion was used frequently in tumuli in Japan during the expansion of the Yamato kingship (third to sixth centuries AD)—named the Kofun period. Until recently, the cinnabar used in tumuli in Japan was thought to have been imported from China, but evidence of its Japanese origin is gradually emerging. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of S, Hg, and Pb isotope analyses for identifying the origin of the vermilion used in these tombs. Therefore, the S, Hg, and Pb isotope ratios of vermilion collected from three tumuli from the early Kofun period, namely, Sakurai-Chausuyama, Kurozuka, and Tenjinyama (which were built in the main area of the ancient Yamato kingship), were compared with those of cinnabar from the Yamato Mercury, Niu, and Suii mines in Japan and the Wanshan and Qingtongguo mines in China to identify the source of the vermilion. Each isotope indicates multiple possibilities about the origin of the vermilion used in each tumulus. Nonetheless, with the three isotopes considered at the same time, the results indicate that the red pigments from the Sakurai-Chausuyama tumulus come from the Yamato Mercury Mine, whereas the vermilion used in the Kurozuka and Tenjinyama tumuli is from the Niu Mine. Therefore, although single isotope analysis can be useful as a first approximation of the source mine of vermilion, analysis of all three isotopes yields considerably more accurate results. On the basis of these three isotope analysis methods, research on the distribution of ancient vermilion is expected to proceed from the identification of the origin of the vermilion used in the abovementioned ruins.