The rise of the Maritime Silk Road about 2000 years ago: Insights from Indo-Pacific beads in Nanyang, Central China

Abstract

The glass artifact is one of the earliest and most important commodities between China and abroad along the Maritime Silk Road. Contrary to historical records, archaeological evidence reflecting overseas trade is rare in Central China at the initiation stage of the Maritime Silk Road during the 1st century BCE. In this study, we reported an assemblage of monochromatic glass beads from Nanyang City in Central China during the mid-late Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE). These beads are typical Indo-Pacific beads and have been analyzed by LA-ICP-MS, Raman, and visible to near-infrared spectroscopy to determine glass types, color-presenting mechanisms, origins as well as the potential trade routes. All the beads belong to potash glass, and their compositions suggest that the beads originate from South Asia, Southeast Asia, or South China. These beads are the earliest Indo-Pacific beads found in Central China so far, reflecting the rise of the Maritime Silk Road since the end of the 2nd century BCE. Most of the beads could be dated to the period when the Land Silk Road was in chaos, implying that the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE) relied more on the Maritime Silk Road and river-ocean combined transportation to import overseas artifacts to Central China.