Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
How humans interact with their natural world is what we as archaeologists see in research of the past, but how do artisans alter nature to produce objects that represent their existence in the history of time? Through the study of artifacts, archaeologists can infer knowledge and skill of artisans. It is only through combining our discussion between different technological productions can we increase our comprehension of ancient artisans' knowledge and relationship with the material world. This session will introduce recent archaeological discoveries and research on Chinese crafts and technology while bringing forth various methods to discuss and comprehend technology as a whole. This allows for better comparison of the knowledge employed by the ancient artisans to alter their physical world.
Other Keywords
Bronze Age •
Craft Production •
Experimental Archaeology •
Material Culture and Technology •
Archaeometry & Materials Analysis •
Lithic Analysis •
Bone Tool Analysis •
Ceramic Analysis •
Paleolithic •
Neolithic
Geographic Keywords
Kyrgyz Republic (Country) •
Japan (Country) •
Asia (Continent) •
Mongolia (Country) •
Republic of India (Country) •
People's Republic of Bangladesh (Country) •
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Country) •
Union of Myanmar (Country) •
People's Republic of China (Country) •
Republic of Korea (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)
- Documents (10)
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Arrangement of the Handicraft Industry at the Site of Taijiasi in the Shang Dynasty (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Shang Dynasty-era site of Taijiasi was excavated from 2014 to 2017. Excavations revealed many remains of bronze casting and bone-tool manufacture. This paper focuses on the arrangement of the two different kinds of handicraft. Along with analysis of other house and sacrificial remains, archaeologists can investigate the...
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Bronze Age Crucibles in China: A Unique Technological Tradition and its Cultural Implications (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Most studies of early metallurgy in China have focused on style, manufacturing techniques and alloy compositions of bronze artefacts. In rare circumstances, other sections of the bronze production Chaîne opératoire such mining, smelting and metal processing are considered. This research concentrates on early bronze...
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A Design Diagram and Production Process for Ground Stone Tools at Wufengbe Site during the Liangzhu Culture Period (5300-4200 BP) in China (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Wufengbei Site is located in the Mudu Ancient City Neolithic sites at Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, southern China. Excavations in 2016 yielded a total of 3850 pieces of lithic artifacts. Based on the concept of Chaîne Opératoire, artifacts were classified and analyzed by the hierarchical dynamic typology and use-wear...
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Experimental Archaeological Research on Reconstructing Shang-Zhou Clay Molds (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study reconstructed manufacturing technologies of Chinese bronze artifacts by performing a "contrastive manufacturing experiment." This approach called for creating identical casting figures using several manufacturing processes and conditions. One factor contributing to the appearance and development of Shang-Zhou...
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Experimental Study of Bronze Casting Molds for Reproduction of the Ancient Chinese Bronze (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. To understand ancient casting technology in China, the non-destructive SEM-EDS technique was applied to casting molds from Anyang. Their grain sizes were various but some of the molds showed a layered structure with fine decorations. The finest layers composed of very fine mineral particles which is comparable to the loess...
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Experimental Study of Ostrich Eggshell Beads Collected from Shuidonggou (SDG) Site, China (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ostrich eggshell beads and fragments collected from the Shuidonggou (SDG) site reflect primordial art and a kind of symbolic behavior of modern humans. Based on stratigraphic data and OSL dating, these ostrich eggshell beads date to the Early Holocene (less than 10 ka BP). Two different prehistoric manufacturing pathways...
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Exploring Production Methods of Casting Molds and the Artisans who Made Them (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The production of Shang dynasty bronze vessels is based on the artisans’ mastery of loess material and how they manipulated them to produce the casting molds. From the beginning stage of raw material procurement to the firing of the molds, these steps all left marks in the molds’ microstructure and physical build up. The...
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Inscriptions and Technology: Knowledge of the Artisans Who Created China’s Terracotta Army (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study offers a new perspective and combines multidisciplinary methods, with the aim of revealing knowledge and behaviour of the artisans in ancient China. It considers the inscriptions incised, painted, or stamped on the terracotta warriors and their accompanying weapons, and interprets the information they reveal...
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Material Properties, Sensory Experience, and Production Techniques in Early Chinese Bronze Casting (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The extraordinary bronze ritual vessels of Shang- and Zhou-period China were produced by casting in multi-part ceramic molds. Laboratory analysis of casting-mold fragments has found that these molds were made from an unusual ceramic material—a paste that was quartz-rich, clay-poor, highly porous, and therefore quite unlike...
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The Mind of an Artisan in Early China: A Museum Collection Study (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Craft and Technology: Knowledge of the Ancient Chinese Artisans" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study aims to investigate the different ways artisans in early China (up to the 3rd century) learned their crafts, in order to better understand how certain types of artifacts such as pottery and bronze were made, and how new styles and designs emerged. In early China, craftsmanship was usually inherited through...