Artisans on the Landscape: Bronze Foundry Organization and Specialization in the Late Shang Dynasty

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Bronze vessels in ancient China are a significant topic of interest in understanding the ancient elites, writing, religion, and culture. However, learning about the casting of bronze vessels speaks to the artisans who produced these artifacts. The various foundries discovered at the Anyang site are not only the location where the bronze vessels were produced but also indicate an immense and intricate production of a major commodity. Their presence is not just a testament to the elite’s power but also represents the artisans’ specialization in their craft and their organization among themselves as specialists. This paper will discuss the artisans’ expertise and how they worked in the ancient landscape, which came together from the eleven known foundries that produced these artifacts. The foundries in Anyang did not just exist independently from each other. They were part of a more extensive network of artisans who shared resources, knowledge, and space while producing the bronze vessels to meet the requirements of the elites. This research discovered further specialization of foundries in bronze casting mould production compared to bronze vessel casting.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53104