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Provision of iron objects in the southern borderlands of the Han Empire: a metallurgical study of iron objects from Han tombs in Guangzhou

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Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that the iron industry developed during the Han period led to the widespread distribution of iron implements, but how such iron implements were supplied to the peripheries, especially the southern frontiers within the Lingnan region where evidence of local manufacturing has not been widely found, remains unclear. This paper presents the results of analyses of iron objects from Han tombs in Guangzhou, which was a major center in Lingnan, as a means of shedding light on the iron supply system in the region. The metallurgical and SEM-EDS analyses identified cast iron, fined iron, solid-state decarburization of cast iron, and bloomery iron within the tested assemblage. Since evidence for local cast iron manufacturing has not yet been identified in Lingnan, the discovery of iron or steel objects made by the cast iron process suggested that a supply and transportation system for final products might have developed linking Guangzhou, and perhaps other centers in Lingnan as well, to iron production centers located outside the region. Meanwhile, the comparison of slag inclusions (SIs) in bloomery iron products from Guangzhou and smelting slag samples from the Guiping-Pingnan area of Guangxi, which were dated between the Han and Southern dynasties period, did not strongly support a link between the two areas. More studies are needed to further test this potential link. Nevertheless, through collective consideration of the available evidence, we would argue that the supply of iron daily items did rely on external sources, which suggests that a relatively well-developed transportation network might have existed between Lingnan and other parts of the Han Empire.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Lv Liangbo and other colleagues in the Guangzhou Municipal Institute of Archaeology for their support and assistance. Special thanks also to Mick Atha and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments, suggestions, and editing help. We want to thank Andrew S. K. LI for his kind support during the SEM-EDS analyses in the Department of Physics at CUHK.

Funding

This research was made possible by the Hong Kong Government RGC-Early Career Scheme (RGC Ref. No. CUHK 24607916), the Chinese University of Hong Kong Direct Grant (#4051063), and the National Social Science Fund of China Major Project (17ZD219).

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  1. Department of Anthropology/Department of History, CUHK, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Lam Wengcheong

  2. Guangzhou Municipal Institute of Archaeology, Guangzhou, China

    Zhang Qianglu

  3. School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Chen Jianli

  4. Department of Anthropology, CUHK, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Wu Sum Yi

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Lam, W., Zhang, Q., Chen, J. et al. Provision of iron objects in the southern borderlands of the Han Empire: a metallurgical study of iron objects from Han tombs in Guangzhou. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 230 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01185-0

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