Research on glass beads unearthed from the city site of Yuezhou in Guangxi
Indo-Pacific glass beads,also known as Indo-Pacific monochrome drawn glass beads,are the glass beads with the longest duration and widest geographic distribution in ancient times.These glass beads are one of the most important markers for the study of the Silk Road exchange and interaction,and have important research values and academic significance for the construction of trade and exchange networks under the global perspective.At present,there are few reports on the scientific research on Indo-Pacific glass beads excavated in China either at home or abroad.The spatial and temporal distribution of such glass beads in China is still unclear and lacks systematic research.Located in Pubei County,Qinzhou,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,the city of Yuezhou was originated in the Song Dynasty(420 AD-479 AD)of the Southern Dynasties and was abolished in the Sui Dynasty(581 AD-618 AD),lasting for about 140 years.During the Southern Qi period(479 AD-502 AD),Yuezhou governed twenty prefectures(Jun),and occupied an important position in the map of the Southern Dynasties.At the city site,a large number of samples,such as pottery,porcelain,ironware and glass beads,etc.,have been unearthed.Among them,there are more than 2,000 glass beads in a variety of colors,including red,blue,yellow,green and brown.In our research,five typical types of glass beads excavated from the city site of Yuezhou were selected,including opacified brownish-red,opacified orange,opacified yellow,translucent light green,and translucent blue-green ones(five samples for each type and 25 samples in total).Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry,confocal laser Raman spectrometry,optical coherence chromatography,and optical microscopy were used to analyze the selected glass beads.The test results show that the glass beads analyzed were mainly made by the drawing process,and the coloring process adopted was mainly of three types:transition metal element(Fe,Cu)ion coloring,metal(Cu)particle coloring and compound(lead stannate)coloring.The major glass system was mineral alkali type sodium-aluminum-silicate glass(mNaAl),and a small number of samples were soda glass.We further compared the contents of the trace elements Sr and Zr with the research results of other scholars,and it is clear that the mNaAl glass beads unearthed from the city site of Yuezhou belong to Subclass 1 of mNaAl glass.Their primary glass provenance was South Asia,and they might have been exchanged to Southeast Asia in the form of primary or finished glass beads and also imported into Lingnan region of China through the Maritime Silk Road.This research clarifies the coloring mechanism,forming process,glass system and subclass characteristics of the glass beads excavated from the city site of Yuezhou,and also the possible origin sources and spread routes based on the Maritime Silk Road,thus providing new physical evidence for the study of the Silk Road-based exchanges between China and foreign countries in southern China from the Wei Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties,and a new"link point"for the construction of global trade and exchange networks of Indo-Pacific glass beads.
Indo-Pacific glass beadCity site of YuezhouWei,Jin and Southern and Northern DynastiesScientific analysisContact and communication based on the Silk Roads
万方数据
维普
