Turquoise Ornaments and Inlays Technology in Qijia Culture -- A Comparative Study of Qijia Culture and Erlitou Culture

Summary

Most turquoise ornaments from early Neolithic sites are pendants with a single material. However, from the later Neolithic period such as Qijia culture, people started to use ornaments which were inlaid with turquoise and other materials by unique techniques. In early Bronze Age, turquoise production process, especially the inlays technology, reached its peak. From a Qijia culture site, we found a bone hairpin. On its tail part, small white bone rings were sticking on black jelly. From Majiayao culture site, we found 12 bracelets bone plates of the same length, which were stuck on black jelly. From later Qijia culture site, ceramic inlayed with turquoise have been found. Meanwhile from Erlitou site, archaeologists found a large dragon-shaped turquoise painting, variety animal-shaped turquoise decorations, and turquoise workshops. In this paper, I will compare the turquoise products in Qijia culture and Erlitou culture, then try to understand the importance of turquoise products in early dynastic formation process by analyzing the following topics: the technological evolution, the combination of composite materials, the usage of adhesive, and the production process of this type of ornament.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Qijia Culture of Northwest China – Entering a New Era of Research   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage