Bronze Age Chinese Foundry Was State Controlled, Archeologists Say
During China’s Bronze Age (c. 2070 – 771 B.C.), the durable alloy was an indispensable resource, central to the development of early Chinese civilization. Under the Zia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, China developed advanced metallurgy techniques and, along with them, systems for managing them at scale. The Bronze age in China was thus not only characterized by its bronze tools and weaponry, but by its advanced social and political structures. As reported in the China Daily, excavations over the last two years at the Shenduntou archeological site near the Yangtze River have unearthed around 1,000 artifacts linked to the bronze industry under the Zhou dynasty. While more modest than the ritual bronze vessels prized by museums, these artifacts—simple knives, arrowheads, and broken clay molds—suggest a major metal-working site. Related Articles “The discovery of numerous bronze-casting remains proves this was a high-level workshop,” says Wang Zhigao, an archaeology professor at Nanjing Normal University, who is leading the excavation project. Perhaps even more interesting to Wang and his team was evidence of a “state controlled” system of …
