Large-scale 2nd to 3rd century AD bloomery iron smelting in Korea

Iron production in Korea has traditionally been seen in the shadow of developments in cast iron technology in China, with limited indication for a northern influence via Russia’s Maritime Province. The possibility of the existence of bloomery iron production in ancient Korea has been little explored, and relevant discussion is fraught with speculations based primarily on the early use of cast iron. The recent excavation of a site in South Korea recovered substantial amounts of slag providing direct evidence of bloomery smelting. The accelerator mass spectrometric dating of burnt wood from inside one of the slag pieces showed that the site was in use in the early 3rd century AD or earlier, which is in agreement with the assessment based on ceramic typology. The traits of a bloomery process evident in the slags’ microstructure, shape, composition and excavation context are discussed along with the implications for historical iron technology in Korea, where cast iron and the influence from China have been overly emphasised.     

Investigating the production provenance of iron artifacts with multivariate methods

The quest for suitable data, data treatments and statistical methods for identifying the provenance of iron artifacts has led to a variety of analytical strategies. Researchers working on the problem have been slow to develop or adopt the use of multivariate statistical techniques, despite their successful implementation in other archaeomaterials sourcing frameworks. This paper explores the analytical potential of a comprehensive multivariate statistical strategy for identifying the primary production origins of bloomery iron artifacts using bulk chemical analyses of bloomery smelting slag and slag inclusions in iron artifacts. This strategy includes a multivariate model for identifying distinct slag inclusion types introduced during smelting and refining. Principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis are then applied to smelting slag training sets to create multivariate provenance fields, the chemical distributions of which are defined by kernel density estimation. Single and multi-group evaluation methods are examined. Appropriate data transformations are discussed to facilitate the projection of the chemistry of “unknown” slag inclusions into the multidimensional space generated by the smelting slag groups of known provenance. The efficacy of this strategy is demonstrated through its application to a previously examined data set derived from three iron production experiments and a published archaeological example. Results indicate that an appropriately designed multivariate strategy can be an effective tool for evaluating provenance hypotheses for bloomery iron artifacts.     

Iron technology of the ancient megalithic communities in the Vidarbha region of India

The megalithic period in India is notable for the emergence and development of iron metallurgy and the appearance of new burials known as megaliths. A number of iron objects from megalithic sites in the Vidarbha region of India, dating to the first half of the 1st millennium BC, have been examined for their microstructures and carbon distributions. The artifact assemblage consists mainly of edged or pointed tools and weapons, along with some domestic implements. Results show that the technology applied in their manufacture is characterized by the use of low carbon iron of bloomery origin and the application of surface carburization as the primary means of steelmaking. The functional parts of the objects examined were made mostly of steel with their mechanical properties finely adjusted through a combination of quenching and tempering. Of particular importance are certain fan-shaped plates which we believe were produced and circulated as intermediaries to meet a wide range of consumer needs. It appears that the Vidarbha megalithic communities shared a fully developed and well-standardized iron technology of substantial flexibility. While exceptions to this general trend were found in some unfinished or used objects, these do not suggest the presence of an inferior technological status. This paper raises questions as to the origin of such a developed technology, and will discuss the probable spreading of several key technical ideas which bear striking similarities to those noted in the early iron traditions of Korea.     

A study of the Roman iron bars of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône,France). A proposal for a comprehensive metallographic approach

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the organisation of the manufacture and circulation of iron bars and the possible bar standardisation of a given set of artefacts in order to throw more light on commercial patterns during Antiquity. A set of 48 iron based metal bars originating from the Roman shipwrecks at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (France) has been studied using comprehensive metallographic observations, ranging from macroscopic to microscopic scales and slag inclusion (SI) analyses. A comparison of the results allows one to distinguish different metal qualities (inclusions, pores, welding, carbon content) that may be linked to morphological types, which shows the possible standardisation of this set of artefacts. Moreover, SI analyses allow distinguishing various origins for the Primary Pieces of Metal, thereby throwing light on a specific organisation of the iron bar production line during the late Roman period.     

汉诸侯王陵墓出土铁器的比较

对徐州狮子山西汉楚王陵、永城保安山西汉梁王墓等7座汉王陵出土铁器的种类、材质、制作技术及功能进行了比较研究,探讨了汉代钢铁技术的发展状况、技术特征等问题。狮子山楚王陵5件炒钢制品的发现表明西汉早期(公元前2世纪中叶）已经发明了炒钢技术,是迄今为止最早的;块炼铁、块炼渗碳钢、生铁、铸铁退火、铸铁脱碳钢、炒钢、局部淬火、冷加工等多种钢铁冶炼和热处理工艺在西汉王陵出土铁器中都得到了广泛的应用,表明西汉时期钢铁技术有了较大发展,当时工匠对钢铁性能的认识提高到新的水平。     

Technological traditions inferred from iron artefacts of the Xiongnu Empire in Mongolia

Iron objects excavated from sites of the Xiongnu Empire (3rd century BC–2nd century AD) in Mongolia have been examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the Xiongnu iron tradition may be characterized by the use of low carbon iron and carbon control by carburization. Cast iron was also used in the Xiongnu Empire, but only in very limited applications and with no convincing evidence of its use for the production of low carbon iron. The Xiongnu iron technology seems to have been established on the basis of the bloomery technique, without much influence from the Chinese style of technology, based on cast iron.     

A technological transition in Mongolia evident in microstructure,chemical composition and radiocarbon age of cast iron artifacts

Metallurgical examination of cast iron objects from the Khitan period (AD 10th–12th) in Mongolia shows that they might be classified into two groups. The first is based on Fe–C alloys of near eutectic composition and the second is based on Fe–C–Si alloys with reduced carbon content and numerous sulfide inclusions. By contrast, all the objects from the succeeding Mongolian empire period (AD 12th–15th) belong to the second group, indicating that a technological transition had occurred during the Khitan period. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) on carbon samples extracted from artifacts in both groups and measurement of alloy compositions suggest that the use of mineral coal in smelting was a major factor for this transition.     

内蒙古地区皮质文物种类、组成和物化特性的研究

为研究皮质文物鞣制工艺与其组成及物化特性之间的关系,对内蒙古地区皮质文物的种类进行调查、归类。利用扫描电镜、能谱分析等手段对皮质样品的组成及相应的物化特性进行深入的分析研究。结果表明,皮革文物的组成和制作工艺有一定的联系:古代技术鞣制的皮革较现代工艺鞣制的皮革含有较多的四氯化碳提取物和较少的灰分,而现代鞣制皮革含有铬元素,这是现代鞣制的特征。两种皮革样品中都含有食盐,是用来做防腐剂的。     

Bronze technology of the ancient megalithic communities in the Vidarbha region of India

Metallographic examination was carried out on forty-nine copper and bronze objects from five megalithic sites located in Vidarbha, India. The artifact assembly consists of horse ornaments, kitchenware, bangles, rings, small bells and the hilt of an iron dagger. Results show that the technology involved is characterized by the use of bronze alloys containing approximately 10% tin based on weight and the application of forging as a key method of fabrication. No deliberate addition of lead was observed. Arsenic was detected, but very rarely and only as an insignificant minor element. The consistent selection of such specific alloys indicates that the megalithic communities in this particular region had established a fully developed and standardized bronze tradition optimized for the production of forged items. Their advanced technological status was also noted in a special technique applied to two forged high-tin bronze bowls. Such a unique bronze tradition, dedicated to sheet metal technology, was most likely a practical choice made by these people to take advantage of the changing role of bronze. Specifically, with the introduction of iron, bronze seems to have become a more prestigious material that could serve as an indicator of the appearance of a more rigid socio-economic stratification within the megalithic communities of the Vidarbha region.     

铁质文物常用除锈试剂的除锈效率及其腐蚀性的比较研究

为比较铁质文物常用除锈试剂的除锈效果,为铁质文物保护中除锈试剂的选择提供建议,对磷酸、柠檬酸、酒石酸、Na_2EDTA等多种试剂进行了实验研究。使用铁锈粉末、铁锈块、铸铁片、带锈铸铁片等多种样品进行了实验,以定量研究试剂的除锈效率以及对铁基体的腐蚀性。结果表明:几种试剂对铁基体的腐蚀都很强烈,且腐蚀铁基体的速率远高于溶解铁锈的速率,加入缓蚀剂可以显著降低铁基体的腐蚀;磷酸在几种试剂中除锈能力最强,对粉末样品和锈块样品都具有较好的除锈效果,但需要过量才能保证除锈作用持续,而少量磷酸则对铁器有钝化保护的作用;柠檬酸、酒石酸、Na_2EDTA对铁锈粉末有一定的溶解作用,但对锈块的除锈效率很低。因此,在铁质文物保护中,添加缓蚀剂的磷酸是比较合适的除锈试剂。     

古代钢铁制品中的浮凸组织初步研究

为研究钢铁制品中浮凸组织产生的原因,对14件取自不同地方、属于不同时期的具有浮凸组织的样品利用金相组织鉴定、扫描电镜能谱分析、化学分析和显微硬度测定等方法进行了研究。结果表明：金相组织观察发现浮凸组织与夹杂物和铁素体晶粒间界有一定的关系,并存在有不同的形貌,其显微硬度均比附近基体高;成分分析表明有浮凸组织的样品磷含量要比没有浮凸组织的样品磷含量高一个数量级。有浮凸组织样品内部磷含量的分布也不均匀。这些结果说明,浮凸组织的产生主要原因是矿石中的磷在冶炼过程中进入铁中,而在随后的脱碳退火、炒炼和冷、热加工过程中均不能有效地脱去;同时,固溶在铁中的磷与铁形成薄膜阻止晶粒间界长大、或在埋葬条件下长期时效引起的晶界移动而产生了浮凸组织。     

皮质文物常见病害及形成原因的研究

为探讨温、湿度变化对皮质文物的影响,以内蒙古博物院及呼伦贝尔民族博物馆藏皮质文物为主要调查对象,对内蒙古地区皮质文物常见的病害种类进行调查,参照已颁布执行的馆藏丝织品病害与图示(WW/T 0013-2008)等相关的国家行业标准有关病害现象的规范描述,对内蒙古地区皮质文物出现的病害现象进行归类和说明。同时利用湿热老化试验,对采集的皮质样品进行老化前后撕裂力、抗张强度、负荷伸长率等理化性能数据的研究,对温、湿度变化给不同鞣制工艺皮质样品所造成影响进行分析,并以此来研究皮质文物的劣化原因。研究结果表明,湿度变化是造成皮质文物劣化的主要因素,且对不同鞣制工艺皮质文物理化性能的影响有明显差异。     

甘肃糟朽木器安全状况评估技术研究

甘肃木器代表了我国汉代雕刻技艺的最高水平。糟朽是甘肃木器的典型特征,通常纤维素降解度高达50%;甘肃木器因材质固有的木材属性及缺陷性,对环境中的湿度、湿气和水分较为敏感,容易引发“湿胀干缩”效应,致使器物后期不易保存、保护。如何对糟朽木器安全状况进行科学评估,是当前基础研究领域亟待解决的课题。针对目前评估技术中存在的弊端、难题,本研究通过对评估方法、方式的深刻剖析,对木材材质特征及属性分析,对衡量及表征材质形态与结构变化相关物理参数的梳理;应用现代分析仪器及其成熟分析技术对采集试样进行了形貌观察和测试数据分析;研究表明:胎木含水率作为影响糟朽木器结构与形态稳定的决定因素,是安全评估的唯一衡量指标;胎木容重值、纤维结晶度与纤维降解度作为材质物理化学性能综合考量的表征参数,均客观地反映了材质质量或状况的实际变化情况,可作为量化评估参考指标;确定胎木含水率的安全变化范围为9.3%~14.3%,安全波动幅度为±5%。依据上述结果,制定了糟朽木器安全评估的相关界定标准:1)胎木含水率在安全范围、幅度内波动、变化时,表征参数物理量变化轻微,器物则处于安全区;2)胎木含水率超出安全范围变化时,且波动频率频繁,往往会持续引起容重值变小、纤维结晶度降低、纤维降解度增大,造成胎木的形态与结构发生严重改变,致使器物处于危险区;3)胎木丧失维持自身平衡效应的能力,致使表征参数物理量变化值极度异常,尤其当胎木素含量达到85%时,纤维素几乎完全降解,器物则已处于濒危区。最后,综合、梳理分析结果,设计、创建了科学、规范的糟朽木器安全评估技术构架,该技术采用定量与定性相结合的方式,特点是重数据、重证据,提升、强化了科技含量,方法简单、实用,易于掌握。     

郑韩故城热电厂墓地出土青铜器的初步分析

本文利用金相显微镜和扫描电镜能谱仪对郑韩故城热电厂墓地出土的l5件青铜器进行了分析,发现15件铜器的材质为铅锡青铜、锡青铜;制作工艺为铸造和热锻。热电厂墓地为东周时期郑韩故城贵族墓地,青铜器的初步分析研究为研究郑韩故城冶铸技术状况提供了参考资料。     

Recent developments in the analysis of lithic artifacts

A review of recent research on lithic technology and functional analysis is presented. Our perception of the state of the art is based on a review of the literature published during the past three years and on the topics that were covered at conferences and workshops on lithic analysis. While the goals have essentially remained the same since the turn of the century, concerns with chronology and the classification of lithic artifacts have given way to studies that treat stone implements as products of a dynamic system of human behavior. In order to understand stone artifacts and the people that made and used them, archaeologists must understand theprocesses involved in the acquisition, production, exchange, and consumption of lithic artifacts. In the past ten years, experimental studies involving the manufacturing and use of stone tools have been integrated with studies of refitted or conjoined lithic artifacts and microwear analysis. The result is a much more dynamic view of the variability in assemblages of lithic artifacts. In this review, we focus on replication and technological analysis of chipped stone artifacts and microwear analysis, and consider the implications of this research.     

古代钢铁制品夹杂物研究述评

现代钢铁冶炼流程中“夹杂物”概念及应用对古代钢铁材料工艺研究提供了有力的支持,夹杂物分析研究成为冶铁考古研究中不可或缺的一部分。本文梳理了不同古代金属冶炼与加工工艺下夹杂物的来源,并对古代夹杂物的表征方法进行归纳,进一步将夹杂物分析在国内外冶铁考古中的应用进行评述。西方学者的夹杂物研究侧重于以成分特征为主要对象进行定量统计分析,形成夹杂物判别产地来源方法；而我国学者则依靠定性判断方法建立起夹杂物辅助铁质文物工艺判别方法。当前古代钢铁制品夹杂物研究存在的问题主要为分析方法单一、对夹杂物包含信息的挖掘不够深入,今后可利用现代冶金分析手段从多方面了解古代钢铁制品夹杂物特征,为后续解决考古学问题打下基础。     

GIS在北京延庆大庄科辽代冶铁遗址群景观考古研究中的初步应用

以北京延庆县大庄科乡冶铁遗址群为例,对空间结构及其与资源、环境间的关系通过GIS工具进行分析。根据对冶炼活动有显著关系的影响因子,建立遗址分布之间的定量关系,进而模拟小区域范围内的遗址预测。研究发现,该区冶铁遗址群对地理位置中的坡度和高程因素展现出较强的依赖性,主要表现为遗址的坡度(7°以下)和高程(650m以下)数值均相对较小;遗址与水系间联系明显,冶铁遗址主要集中在河流交汇处,方便冶炼过程及相关活动水源的供应;而随着冶炉容积(即冶铁产量)的增加,小范围内的冶铁遗址选择,并未以铁矿资源距离就近为最佳选取原则,表明了人类生产活动中对资源的依赖程度有所减低。     

朝鲜古地图所见之清代中朝边界诸问题初探

朝鲜古地图中保存了清代中朝边界的诸多重要信息。通过对多种朝鲜古地图的解读,考察了其绘制方法与特点,重点分析了穆克登碑、图们江源、"间岛"及鸭绿江下游岛屿等边界地区在地图上的表现方式与变化轨迹。可以看出,朝鲜古地图在绘制方法受到了中国传统舆图的深刻影响,在内容上反映了绘制者对本国历史、地理状况的认知,也体现了其领土观念与"北拓传统"。     

丸都山城高句丽铁器的金相与工艺

为探讨高句丽铁器加工业发展状况以及魏晋南北朝时期钢铁技术水平,利用金相显微镜对吉林省集安市丸都山城遗址出土铁器样品进行金相学检测及工艺研究,并结合以往高句丽铁器检测结果进行讨论。检测结果表明,工匠制造铁器时采用了"生铁淋口"、铸造后脱碳退火、铸铁脱碳钢材料锻打成型、锋刃部淬火、熟铁、低碳钢等不同材质的锻接、折叠锻打等加工技术。铁镞03JWN2T105②:12是迄今为止应用"生铁淋口"工艺的最早实例,将这种工艺的使用年代,前推至魏晋南北朝时期,相对于明代文献的明确记载提前1000年左右,相对于已报道的宋代实例早600余年,其发明时间应该还在此之前,该项发现对构建魏晋南北朝时期钢铁技术发展序列,具有十分重要的意义。