Bronze casting techniques of the Erlitou Culture period
-
Haiping Lian
,
Derui Tan
Abstract
Erlitou is an important site of pre-Qin cultural remains at which the earliest bronze casting workshops in China known to date were discovered. Based on the observation and analyses of the bronzes, pottery molds and foundry ladles, this paper discusses the bronze casting techniques of the Erlitou Site. The most noticeable characteristic of the bronzes unearthed at Erlitou is that their walls are thin but even, showing that at the time of the Erlitou Culture, bronze casting techniques had reached a rather high level: rational mold division and precise mold positioning techniques had appeared; the mold designs of some bronzes with simple shapes had fallen into patterns that saw continued use throughout the Bronze Age; the mold designs of bronzes with complex shapes (especially juecups) were not stereotyped and unchanging; and defects occurring in the casting process were corrected with a burning-on technique which was the incipient form of the cast-joining technique, an extremely important feature of pottery mold casting. The material components of the pottery molds and their processing techniques; the pottery mold positioning technique; and the pouring cups and foundry ladles found at Erlitou prove that the Erlitou Culture was capable of casting small bronze vessels with thin and even walls. These technical achievements reflect the fact that in the early Bronze Age, sophisticated pottery mold casting techniques existed in China, laying a firm technical foundation for the high development of bronze casting techniques during the Bronze Age.
© 2013 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co.
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Contents
- New archaeological discoveries in 2011
- The Yejiashan Cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Suizhou City, Hubei
- The tombs of the Han Dynasty at the Dayun Hill in Xuyi County, Jiangsu
- The Han tomb near Lingsheng Lake in Dingtao County, Shandong
- The Chang mo Grottoes in Dinggyê County, Tibet
- Spotlight
- The excavation of the house remains of Yangshao Culture at Xiahe Site in Baishui County, Shaanxi
- The large houses of Xiahe Site in Baishui County, Shaanxi
- Reports
- The Hualong Cave upper Paleolithic site in Dongzhi County, Anhui
- The remains of Yangshao Culture at Xiaowu Site in Lingbao City, Henan
- Excavation of the Neolithic city site at Zhangxiwan in Huangpi District, Wuhan
- Neolithic Yejiamiao City Site in Xiaogan, Hubei
- The excavation of the bronze casting remains in Zhuangli Locus West at Zhouyuan Site
- The excavation of the Xiongjiazhong Graveyard in Jingzhou, Hubei in 2008
- Excavation of Liu Shen’s tomb of the Western Han Dynasty on Heitou Hill in Xuzhou, Jiangsu
- The mural tomb of the Northern Wei Dynasty at Yunboli in Datong City, Shanxi
- Architectural foundation No. 5 of the Northern Wei Palace found at Han-Wei Luoyang City, Henan
- The Buddhist sculpture hoard at Bei Wuzhuang in Ye City Site at Linzhang County, Hebei Province
- Excavation of the cultural remains in front of the Bezeklik Thousand-Buddha Caves
- Research
- On the archaeology of traditional industry
- The Miaodigou Age and “early China”
- On the custom of burying dogs in prehistoric burials
- The restoration of the chariots of the Warring-States Period in Majiayuan, Gansu
- On the Kele Culture
- Bronze casting techniques of the Erlitou Culture period
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Contents
- New archaeological discoveries in 2011
- The Yejiashan Cemetery of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Suizhou City, Hubei
- The tombs of the Han Dynasty at the Dayun Hill in Xuyi County, Jiangsu
- The Han tomb near Lingsheng Lake in Dingtao County, Shandong
- The Chang mo Grottoes in Dinggyê County, Tibet
- Spotlight
- The excavation of the house remains of Yangshao Culture at Xiahe Site in Baishui County, Shaanxi
- The large houses of Xiahe Site in Baishui County, Shaanxi
- Reports
- The Hualong Cave upper Paleolithic site in Dongzhi County, Anhui
- The remains of Yangshao Culture at Xiaowu Site in Lingbao City, Henan
- Excavation of the Neolithic city site at Zhangxiwan in Huangpi District, Wuhan
- Neolithic Yejiamiao City Site in Xiaogan, Hubei
- The excavation of the bronze casting remains in Zhuangli Locus West at Zhouyuan Site
- The excavation of the Xiongjiazhong Graveyard in Jingzhou, Hubei in 2008
- Excavation of Liu Shen’s tomb of the Western Han Dynasty on Heitou Hill in Xuzhou, Jiangsu
- The mural tomb of the Northern Wei Dynasty at Yunboli in Datong City, Shanxi
- Architectural foundation No. 5 of the Northern Wei Palace found at Han-Wei Luoyang City, Henan
- The Buddhist sculpture hoard at Bei Wuzhuang in Ye City Site at Linzhang County, Hebei Province
- Excavation of the cultural remains in front of the Bezeklik Thousand-Buddha Caves
- Research
- On the archaeology of traditional industry
- The Miaodigou Age and “early China”
- On the custom of burying dogs in prehistoric burials
- The restoration of the chariots of the Warring-States Period in Majiayuan, Gansu
- On the Kele Culture
- Bronze casting techniques of the Erlitou Culture period
