Early Bronze found in Hubei, China (middle Yangtze)

In a new study provides more evidence for an early Bronze Age in eastern parts of Asia.

Sediments from Liangzhi Lake in Hubei Province suggest bronze working by about 3000 +/- 328 BC. Hubei is in south-central China (middle Yangtze), and the findings could be associated with Daxi or Qujialing cultures.


Hubei province, Wikipedia


Similar radiocarbon dates have been obtained for bronze in Thailand (Non Nok Tha, Ban Chiang) and the Philippines (Balobok).

Environ Sci Technol. 2008 Jul 1;42(13):4732-8.

Seven thousand years of records on the mining and utilization of metals from lake sediments in central China.

Lee CS, Qi SH, Zhang G, Luo CL, Zhao LY, Li XD.

Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

A 268 cm section of sediment core from Liangzhi Lake in Hubei province in central China was used to assess the use and accumulation of metals in the lake in the past 7,000 years. The concentrations of trace metals, including Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn, and major elements, Ca, Fe, and Mg, in a 14C- dated segment of sediment core were analyzed. Historical trends on the input of metals to Liangzhi Lake from around 5000 BC to the present were recorded in the sediments, representing about 7,000 years of history on the mining and utilization of metals in central China. The concentrations of Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn increased gradually from about 3000 +/- 328 BC, indicating the start of the Bronze Age in ancient China. During the period 467 +/- 257 to 215 +/- 221 AD, there was a rapid increase in the concentrations of these metals in the sediments, indicating enormous inputs of these metals at that time. This era corresponded to China's Warring States Period (475- 221 BC) and the early Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), during which copper and lead were extensively used in making bronze articles such as vessels, tools, and weapons. From 1880 +/- 35 AD to the early 1900s, there was also a significant increase in the concentrations of metals such as Cu, Ni, and Pb, which probably reflected the metal emissions and utilization during the early period of industrial development and weapon manufacture during the wars in China. The Pb isotopic analysis showed that the surface and subsurface sediments had lower 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/ 207Pb ratios than the deeper layers, reflecting the additional input of Pb from mining activities that took place during the Bronze Age era and in modern times. This study provides direct evidence of the environmental impact of the mining and utilization of metals in the last 7,000 years in one of the important regions of Chinese civilization.

Thousands of Wooden Poles found at Yunnan Neolithic Site

Chinese new sources are reporting an exciting find from Yunnan, in southwest China. The discovery in Dali may turn out to be the largest Neolithic site anywhere in the world. So far it covers an area of 1,350 sq. meters and could eventually span 4 sq. kilometers.

Some 2,000 wooden poles sunk deep into the ground (4.5 meters) were uncovered. Archaeologists surmise that these are more than 3,000 years old and the article mentions they may be older than the Hemudu Culture of the Yangtze region, which would mean that it is still thousands of years older. Hemudu Layer 4 is generally dated to 5000 BCE. Yan Wenming of Peking University says the poles might have been used to support housing structures, which brings to mind the type of pile-raised architecture found further south or east along the maritime coastlines in Southeast Asia and South China. Ancient Yunnan is often associated with Daic and Austro-Asiatic speaking peoples prior to the arrival of Sino-Tibetan speakers. The latter are believed to largely descendants of the Di-Qiang people mentioned in Chinese literature as migrating into Yunnan from the north. And most, with the most notable exception of the Lolo, still mainly inhabit northern Yunnan.

Thousands of Wooden Poles at Yunnan Neolithic Site

DALI, Yunnan -- More than 2,000 wooden poles recently unearthed at a site in Jianchuan county, have been found to be more than 3,000 years old.

The poles, still standing, were dug 4.5 m into the ground.

Archaeologists said carbon tests showed the poles were from the Neolithic age, and were probably the foundations for a structure built by a community that existed at the time in southwest China.

Archaeologists excavate a site from the Neolithic age in Jianchuan county, Dali, Southwest China's Yunnan Province. [China Daily]

They said this community may turn out to be the largest Neolithic one of its kind that has ever been discovered in China, or even in the world. It could be older than the Hemudu community in Yuyao, Zhejiang province, birthplace of the Yangtze River civilization.

"I was shocked when I first saw the site. I have never seen such a big and orderly one. This could be only a small fraction of the actual community that existed at the time," Yan Wenming, history professor at Peking University, said.

Excavation of the site is still going on. A total of 28 excavations have been made so far of an area that covers 1,350 sq m. Min Rui, a researcher at the Yunnan Archaeological Institute who leads the excavation, said the area could eventually cover 4 sq km

Yan said the poles could have been the foundations for a house as these types of structures have been found in Hubei, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other provinces, the most famous being the Hemudu site.

"Right now there is also such a site being excavated in Switzerland. But that site is smaller than the one in Yunnan. The Yunnan one could be the largest in the world," Yan said.

Archaeologists have also found more than 3,000 artifacts made of stone, as well as pottery, wood, iron and bones. The most eye-catching piece is a red jar, Min said.

The site, which lies on the banks of the Jianhu Lake, was discovered in 1957 during the construction of a canal. Broken pieces of pottery were found nearby. Excavation started in January this year - five decades after the discovery.