Study on the yellow beads in the jade pendant set (组玉佩) of the Western Zhou Dynasty: Fluorite beads from M2 in Dahekou cemetery, Yicheng County, Southern Shanxi

Abstract

The use of jade ritual objects had been an important component of the ‘ritual reform’ throughout the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771BC), featuring stringed jade ornaments made of beads of various colors. The colors of these ornaments include white, black, red, yellow, green and blue, among which both of red and yellow materials are previously considered agate or carnelian. However, in this study, various analytical techniques were applied to the stringed ornaments unearthed from M2 in Dahekou cemetery, Yicheng County, Shanxi Province. The results show that 67 yellow beads that form necklaces, stringed ornaments with arc-shaped pendants (huang)(多璜联珠组玉佩) and stringed ornaments with a trapezoidal plaque (梯形牌联珠组玉佩) are in fact fluorite. Furthermore, published researches show that fluorite beads are commonly used in Wangji (王畿), the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty and adjacent area in modern central Shaanxi and southern Shanxi. However, the lack of evidence of fluorite ornaments in other parts of area influenced by Western Zhou Culture reflects a limited use of this material during Western Zhou Dynasty. It’s worth noting that in area where yellow agate, carnelian and faience were prevalent, fluorite beads were rarely found. Therefore, this paper suggests that the use of yellow fluorite may be related to substituting yellow material in response to the shortage of yellow agate.