Material selection strategy for jade and stone artifacts discovered at Lianhe Site in Guanghan County,Sichuan Province
The Lianhe Site in Guanghan County,in the Chengdu Plain of Sichuan Province in China,contains a large number of ancient artifacts.In this study,we subjected jade and stone artifacts from the area to manual scrutiny,microscopic examination,scanning electron microscopy,energy spectrum analysis,X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy,and Raman spectroscopy to determine the strategy for material selection for the manufacture of the artifacts unearthed at this site.The results showed that the area contained diverse types of stone materials,including sedimentary rocks,igneous rocks,and metamorphic rocks,as well as a small amount of ores.The types of jade materials were limited to nephrite and serpentine jade.Siliceous rocks and sandstone dominated the region during the Neolithic period,while slate,shale,sandstone,and siltstone were abundant during the Shang-Zhou period.The inhabitants of the Lianhe Site developed stone tools with specific functions by harnessing the different physical properties of the stone materials.By contrast,the inhabitants of the area during the Shang-Zhou period better used the local resources.Compared with those of the Sanxingdui Site in the Shang-Zhou period,the inhabitants of the Lianhe Site were at a disadvantage in terms of the jade and stone materials available to them.Our analysis of the geological data and the distribution of the water system revealed that the raw materials for the jade and stone artifacts mainly came from the tectonic belt of the Longmen Mountain in the upper reaches of the Jian River and the Min River Basin,indicating that the inhabitants of the Lianhe Site had inherited their uses of jade and stone materials from the Baodun culture.This reveals the sequence of evolution of the Baodun and Sanxingdui cultures.
jade and stone artifactstypes of stone materialssource of raw materialsselection strategy
万方数据
维普
