Identifying the "Why" Of Ancient Engineering Choices: Materials Performance and the Production of Ceramic Bronze-Casting Molds in Zhou-Period China

Summary

Bronze ritual vessels from Shang- and Zhou-period China display a combination of features—complex, three-dimensional forms; exquisitely fine surface detail; and monumental size—that was achieved by casting in multi-part ceramic molds. The ceramic material used to form these casting molds is soft, powdery, and silica rich, making it altogether different from pottery clays in both its physical qualities and its production sequence. Why was such a material chosen? Which specific materials properties did foundry workers seek out in order to ensure adequate performance of their casting molds?

Casting molds and other ceramic artifacts from three bronze foundry sites (c. 1100-771 BCE) in the Zhouyuan area of Shaanxi province were chemically and microscopically analyzed to identify differences in processing and composition between object types. The consequences of these production choices for materials performance were then assessed by measuring mechanical and thermal behavior of lab-made facsimiles. On the basis of the results, this paper reconstructs the priorities that informed the selection of production techniques practiced at these sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22291