Ethnic identification of late shang bronze wares from the Guanzhong Plain: scientific analysis of bronze artifacts from M90 at the Xitou Site, Xunyi county, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province

doi:10.1007/s12520-025-02287-3

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	Ethnic identification of late shang bronze wares from the Guanzhong Plain: scientific analysis of bronze artifacts from M90 at the Xitou Site, Xunyi county, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province
	Zuo, Tian 1,2; Chen, Dian 1,2; Dou, Haifeng 3; Luo, Wugan 1,2
	2025-08-13
发表期刊	ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ISSN	1866-9557
卷号	17 期号:9 页码:15
通讯作者	Dou, Haifeng(douhaifeng456@163.com) ; Luo, Wugan(xiahua@ucas.ac.cn)
摘要	The Guanzhong Plain has always been significant in ancient China, particularly during the late Shang period, when the Predynastic Zhou (pre-Zhou) culture and Shang culture intermingled. In order to discuss the ethnicity of some late Shang period bronzes by scientific methods, this study selects bronze wares and casting cores from M90 of the Xitou site in the northwestern Guanzhong Plain. Metallography, SEM-EDS, MC-ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS and WD-XRF were used to investigate the techniques, metal sources, and casting workshops of the bronze wares. By integrating these findings with published materials from other contemporary sites, the technological analysis can help identify ethnic affiliations between the Shang and pre-Zhou cultures in the Guanzhong Plain during the late Shang period. The samples from M90 with a lead content exceeding 2% generally have higher lead levels and likely to use lead from North China geochemical province. Additionally, the copper ore contains lower zinc levels. The results also indicated that one sample was not locally cast and probably originated from the Yinxu site. Therefore, M90 is closer to the Shang culture of Yinxu in terms of resources and technology, with interaction with the Guanzhong Shang culture. This discovery provides a valuable reference for determining cultural affiliations of bronze in the Guanzhong region during the late Shang period, particularly for incomplete artifacts from severely looted tombs without sufficient typological characteristic.
关键词	Guanzhong Plain Shang culture Pre-Zhou culture Ethnic Identification
DOI	10.1007/s12520-025-02287-3
关键词[WOS]	TRACE-ELEMENTS ; CHINA
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Social Science Fund of China[20VJXG018] ; National Social Science Foundation of China
项目资助者	National Social Science Fund of China ; National Social Science Foundation of China
WOS研究方向	Anthropology ; Archaeology ; Geology
WOS类目	Anthropology ; Archaeology ; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
WOS记录号	WOS:001551277100003
出版者	SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.205/handle/311034/25034
专题	中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所
通讯作者	Dou, Haifeng; Luo, Wugan
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Key Lab Vertebrate Evolut & Human Origins, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Beijing 100044, Peoples R China 2.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Dept Archaeol & Anthropol, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China 3.Northwest Univ, Sch Culture Heritage, China Cent Asia the Belt & Rd Joint Lab Human & En, Key Lab Cultural Heritage Res & Conservat, Xian 710127, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Zuo, Tian,Chen, Dian,Dou, Haifeng,et al. Ethnic identification of late shang bronze wares from the Guanzhong Plain: scientific analysis of bronze artifacts from M90 at the Xitou Site, Xunyi county, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province[J]. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES,2025,17(9):15.
APA	Zuo, Tian,Chen, Dian,Dou, Haifeng,&Luo, Wugan.(2025).Ethnic identification of late shang bronze wares from the Guanzhong Plain: scientific analysis of bronze artifacts from M90 at the Xitou Site, Xunyi county, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province.ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES,17(9),15.
MLA	Zuo, Tian,et al."Ethnic identification of late shang bronze wares from the Guanzhong Plain: scientific analysis of bronze artifacts from M90 at the Xitou Site, Xunyi county, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province".ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES 17.9(2025):15.