Social hierarchy and the choice of metal recycling at Anyang, the last capital of Bronze Age Shang China
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Liu, Ruiliang
Pollard, A Mark
Cao, Qin
Liu, Cheng
Sainsbury, Victoria
Howarth, Philly
Bray, Peter
Huan, Limin
Yao, Bohao
Fu, Yuting
Tang, Jigen
Date published
November 2, 2020
Abstract
Anyang, the last capital of the Chinese Shang dynasty, became one of the largest metal consumers in Eurasia during the second millennium BCE. However, it remains unclear how Anyang people managed to sustain such a large supply of metal. By considering the chemical analysis of bronze objects within archaeological contexts, this paper shows that the casting and circulation of metal at Anyang was effectively governed by social hierarchy. Objects belonging to the high elites such as Fuhao, particularly the bronze ritual vessels, were made by carefully controlled alloying practice (primary) using very pure copper, whereas the lower elites only had access to bronzes made by secondary alloying practice and copper with more impurities. Such contrasts allow scholars to identify those objects which are less likely to have been made by mixing and recycling, which has very important implications for the chemical and isotopic determination of provenance for future studies.
Journal title
Scientific Reports
Volume
10
Article number
18794
Publisher
Nature
eISSN
2045-2322
Date accepted
October 21, 2020
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
Full text available via the official URL