叶家山M111出土的商代铁援铜戈

叶家山M111出土的铁援铜戈,据形制及纹饰特征可判断为殷墟二期的器物,是继藁城台西、平谷刘家河之后,经科学发掘出土的第三件商代铁质器物,也是目前中国南方地区发现的时代最早的铁质器物。该戈的铁援部分为陨铁材质,使用了当时相当珍贵的金属材料;铁刃锻制后嵌于范内,再以青铜铸出援部。商代铁援铜戈出于叶家山西周曾侯墓中,很可能与周初的"分器"有关。

Discovery of Bronze ge-Dagger with Iron yuan-Blade of the Shang Dynasty in Tomb M111 at the Yejiashan Cemetery

A bronze ge-dagger with iron yuan-blade was unearthed from the tomb M111 at the Yejiashan cemetery. Given the shape and form as well as the motifs, it is believed that the dagger was manufactured in the Phase Ⅱ of the Yinxu Period. The dagger thus becomes the third bronze ge-dagger with iron yuan-blade of the Shang Dynasty that was obtained through archaeological excavation, following those found at the Taixi site in Gaocheng(Hebei Province) and the Liujiahe site in Pinggu(Beijing).The dagger is also the earliest iron artifact discovered thus far in South China. The yuan-blade was made of meteoric iron, an undoubtedly precious metal material at the time. It is suggested that the blade was hammered first and then inserted in clay moulds for bronze casting, during which the other parts of the dagger were cast and shaped. The discovery of the Shang bronze ge-dagger with iron yuan-blade at the Yejiashan Cemetery may conform to the written record of fenqi(the Zhou king bestowing highly precious items on the vassal states) for the Early Zhou period.