On March 11, 2021, the "Erlitou Turquoise Comprehensive Research Seminar" sponsored by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was successfully held at the site of the Erlitou Task Force of Yanshi, Henan. A number of experts and scholars from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Zhejiang Province, Beijing Union University, Shandong University, University of Science and Technology of China, Fudan University, Wuhan University, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Erlitou Xiadu Site Museum, Jinsha Site Museum attended the meeting and delivered keynote speeches, and many local archaeology cultural and museum workers attended the meeting. Reporters from Luoyang Daily, Luoyang Tv and other news media attended the meeting to interview and report.
Caption photo
Group photo of the meeting
Seminar site
The meeting was first delivered by Xu Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who extended a warm welcome to the guests and introduced the origin of the seminar: Turquoise, as a kind of ancient jade, has been excavated in large quantities in the Erlitou site, from the magnificent turquoise dragon shaped instrument to the small and exquisite turquoise pipe and bead, which has irreplaceable significance. The Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Shandong University plan to launch a research catalogue "Erlitou Jade and the Birth of Royal Power" with Erlitou turquoise as the core content this year as a gift for the centenary of the birth of Chinese archaeology. Initiated and convened by Professor Deng Cong of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Shandong University and Mr. Zhao Haitao, the leader of the Erlitou Archaeological Team, the conference aims to build a platform for scholars from various disciplines and different research backgrounds to jointly study Erlitou turquoise and promote in-depth and comprehensive research on Erlitou turquoise.
Professor Xu Hong delivered a speech
After that, Wang Xianben, executive director of the Erlitou Xiadu Site Museum, delivered a speech. Wang Xianben stressed that since the general secretary made important instructions on the protection of the site, the protection of the Erlitou site and the study of Xia culture have received unprecedented attention. Luoyang City launched the preliminary work of Erlitou's application for heritage, and held important meetings such as "Ancient Capital Forum", "Xia Culture Seminar" and "Xia Culture Expert Symposium" at the Erlitou Xiadu Ruins Museum. In order to improve the level of museum research, the Early China Research Center was established in the museum, and a series of academic activities were carried out with fruitful results. Turquoise has been excavated in the Erlitou site, and is one of the most representative cultural elements in the Erlitou culture, hoping to enrich the connotation of the museum exhibition through the latest research results of turquoise, and wish the conference a complete success.
Director Wang Xianben delivered a speech
After a brief ceremony, we will proceed to the expert presentation session. The following are the experts who spoke and the main contents of their speeches:
Professor Zhang Juzhong, University of Science and Technology of China:
"New Progress in Research on Turquoise Tools Excavated from Jiahu Site"
The Jiahu Ruins are located in Jiahu Village, Wuyang County, Henan, on the western edge of the Huang-Huai-Hai Great Plain, on the plain between the Shahe river and the Li river, a tributary of the upper reaches of the Huai River. A large number of turquoise stones have been excavated at the Jiahu site, and the turquoise is dominated by round and triangular perforated ornaments. In the seventh excavation, turquoise was excavated from the eye sockets of M477 and M478, which was a characteristic burial custom at that time. In the eighth excavation, M59 unearthed the largest turquoise pendant, 8 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide, which is the largest turquoise pendant currently found at the JiaHu site. More than 600 turquoise stones were unearthed from M58.
The color of Turquoise in Jia Lake is mainly divided into three types: sky blue, moon white and dark green. Among them, sky blue is the most, followed by moon white, and dark green is less. Some transparency is better. The production process inherits the characteristics of the Paleolithic Era, and the processing is simple and unpolished. Perforation is a major feature of Jiahu turquoise, except for a few irregular shapes, most of them are perforated; circular perforations are in the middle of the utensils, and other shapes are perforated on one side or end. Thicker ornaments have tunnel holes on one side. The function of turquoise is speculated to have a high perforation rate, hanging wear, ornaments are its main function.
In terms of the size and quantity of turquoise excavated from the Jiahu site, the overall first phase is large, the second phase is more, and the third phase gradually disappears.
For the exploration of turquoise production areas, the use of modern ore points to correspond to past discoveries, is not a very rigorous research method, if you want to prove the connection between JiaHu turquoise products and modern mineral sources, the mine source must have the discovery of sites at the same time as Jiahu Lake to confirm the possibility of a connection between the two. The turquoise of Jiahu Lake disappeared in the third phase, possibly because the source of the mine was depleted, so the turquoise mine in the Jiahu period has disappeared. For the tendency of the origin of the understanding, Jiahu turquoise should be the nearest material. The results of the principal component analysis method show that there are obvious differences between the turquoise of the first and second phases of Jiahu Lake, and the ancestors of Jiahu Lake have two turquoise mining points. Turquoise should be mined within 100 km of the JiaHu site.
Among the ancient sites of the same period, only JiaHu has a large amount of turquoise, and other sites have only been excavated sporadically, and Jiahu is likely to occupy the resource land.
Dr. Dengyi Zhang, Beijing Union University:
"Preliminary Study on the Origin Characteristics of Turquoise Products Excavated from JiaHu Site"
The study used XRF to conduct composition testing of 23 turquoise samples excavated from the neck of M55 at the Jiahu site, and then used spss software dimensionality reduction analysis to determine that the turquoise source characteristics of JiaHu Lake pointed to the Beacon Mountain and Lujiang area in Anhui Province, and the investigation of early mineral sources was carried out in this area.
After that, the report of "Research on the Origin of Qin Turquoise Products in the Middle Ages" was carried out:
The study used chromatic aberration analysis, Raman spectroscopy, XRF, LA-ICP-AES, TIMS and other methods to detect 128 turquoise samples from the pre-Qin Xiajin cemetery, Tao Temple, Erlitou, Panlong City, Yin Xu, Zhumadian Yanlou, Suizhou Yejiashan, Dingxiang Zhonghuo and other sites, and found that there were at least three different sources of turquoise products from the Linfen Xiajin Cemetery in the late Neolithic period, two of which pointed to zhushan Lama Cave and Luonan Spicy Cliff area. The sources of turquoise products excavated from the Xiangfen Tao Temple site are special and complex, and most of the mineral sources are unknown, which may characterize its characteristics as an early material exchange and distribution center. Most of the sources of turquoise products in Yanshi Erlitou point to the ancient turquoise mine in Luonan, Shaanxi, and the ore is initially processed at the source of the mine and transported along the Luo River to the Erlitou Palace Area. The mineral sources of turquoise products excavated from the ruins of Panlong City in the early Shang Dynasty, the ruins of Yin Ruins and Leap Towers in the late Shang Dynasty, and the Yejiashan Cemetery in the early Western Zhou Dynasty are all more complex. There are at least three different sources of Huo turquoise products in Dingxiang in the late Spring and Autumn Period, two of which roughly point to the Zhushan Lama Cave and the Luonan Spicy Cliff area.
The "Turquoise Road" of the pre-Qin Dynasty was divided into two forms: land transportation and water transportation. "Taihang Shanxi Road" is the most typical representative of land transmission, and "Luohe Line" is a typical representative of waterway transportation. In the pre-Qin, turquoise products had a hierarchical characterization and played an important role in the process of early social complications and the origin of civilization.
Researcher Xiang Ming of Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology:
Turquoise and Inlay Craftsmanship of Liangzhu Culture
The use of turquoise in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River did not begin until the late Songze period to the early Liangzhu culture. The Pengtou Mountain culture in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River has been discovered. During the Hemudu culture period in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, fluorite, pyrophyllite, quartz, etc. were widely used, and there was no turquoise, indicating that turquoise was not familiar at that time, and also indicating that no turquoise ore was found near the site.
Liangzhu culture turquoise products, the number is small, the type of instrument is also small, mainly based on mosaic pieces and pipes, beads and so on. As the highest-ranking cemetery in the early Liangzhu culture, only M11 unearthed a pair of turquoise hemispherical tunnel beads as earrings, and several tombs in the early days of anti-mountain did not, indicating that turquoise in this period was not in the jade range of Liangzhu high-ranking nobles. In the middle and late Liangzhu culture, the number of turquoise products began to increase, especially in and around Fuquan Mountain, and the Liangzhu site group also began to increase. This period is mainly used for inlaying, about turquoise inlay, must be combined with the inlay of nephrite, inlaid jade is an important type of Liangzhu jade. The natural color of Liangzhu nephrite should be green, but there is a debate, the color of turquoise is mainly green, there is always some difference between the two, this involves combination and performance, it is worth paying attention to.
Liangzhu culture inlays, including nephrite jade and turquoise, can be divided into four categories: 1, clear imitation pottery utensils, such as inlaid jade lacquer pots, inlaid jade warp pots, etc.; 2, inlaid jade lacquer round ware, similar to the "sun disk" in the Mayan civilization; 3, box lacquerware, because of the discovery of jade pieces of the corner type; 4, inlaid jade handle-shaped utensils, and liangzhu culture is closely related to the Haochuan culture in many pieces. Liangzhu culture inlays, both flat and three-dimensional.
Liangzhu culture mosaic, there is a certain combination of patterns, as early as the "Fuquan Mountain" report, Mr. Huang Xuanpei mentioned that the combination of those turquoise inlay pieces is a god. The pattern on the anti-mountain M12 inlaid jade warp pot, which was later carefully identified, was also the theme of the divine beast pattern. Mr. Mou Yongkang's 1995 "Introduction to Ancient Chinese Jade" (published in 2009) mentioned that the crown ornaments of Xi zhufeng were also inlaid with turquoise, and later Professor Wang Qing wrote a special article, which is very reasonable, indicating that the old gentlemen were very knowledgeable before. Mr. Mou Yongkang also mentioned that the Longshan culture filled the jade with small holes in turquoise pieces, and if these small holes were excluded as left by the old material reform, it was the earliest Pingshou Gui, which was an important supplement to turquoise tools. Mr. Mou Yongkang also mentioned many times the Liangzhu culture inlay as a composite jade, which opened the precedent of bronze inlays in later generations. We can also say that before the Erlitouxia culture, the Liangzhu culture and the subsequent Longshan culture reached the highest level at that time in the inlay process including turquoise, and it is likely to be the main source of erlitouxia turquoise tools.
Mosaic and paste, in fact, is two means of expression, inlay need to dig a small nest, sticking is to directly glue jade pieces, turquoise pieces, as early as eight thousand years ago across the lake bridge culture there is a superb bonding technology. The perimeter of the mosaic is often preserved rough surface, and the perimeter of the adhesive patch is integrated with the front and is beautifully polished. Regarding the sticking of turquoise pieces, tao temples, Qi family culture, etc. are very mature, and when considering the Erlitou turquoise craft, the influence of the east and west needs to be considered.
The sticking and inlaying process is a special expression different from the general jade craft, which is different from the bas-relief of the reduced land, creating a new way of artistic expression and achieving a similar effect to the mosaic.
Finally, as a composite form of mosaic, the concept and form reflected behind it deserve further study, and the resources, technology and inheritance of turquoise inlays are worthy of attention.
Professor Yang Xingxing, School of Jewelry, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan):
"A Preliminary Study of Turquoise Unearthed in pre-Qin From the Perspective of Jade Science"
The national standard "Turquoise Grading" GB/T 36169-2018 was led by Professor Yang Xingxing of the School of Jewelry of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), which stipulates the terms and definitions of natural or optimized loose polished turquoise, the grading rules of turquoise color, texture and surface cleanliness, the description of turquoise transparency, luster and pattern, the grading of natural or optimized unmounted polished turquoise, and can also be applied to the quantitative study of the quality of excavated turquoise.
With reference to the national standard "Turquoise Grading" to conduct a preliminary analysis of the quality grade of turquoise excavated in Erlitou, the color range of turquoise used in the dragon shaper is relatively concentrated, the hue, saturation, brightness and uniformity indicators are better, and the surface cleanliness values are mostly extremely clean. It shows that the color and surface cleanliness of turquoise pieces of the dragon shaper have been strictly carefully selected, and the selection and elimination rate may exceed 95% compared with the turquoise grading database data. In addition, there are obvious differences in the quality of turquoise used in different utensils, the turquoise selected by the dragon shaped vessel is the best quality, followed by the turquoise selected for the bronze plaque, and the turquoise of the necklace type is again.
Referring to the process of jewelry design and production, the turquoise dragon shaper may have gone through the process of "design lofting, stone color selection, verification of shape, mosaic inlay sticking". Turquoise bronze medallions are made to a slightly lower standard.
From the perspective of the spatio-temporal evolution of turquoise excavated in the pre-Qin Dynasty, Turquoise was used in China from the Jiahu Period, and the scope of use has since expanded in an orderly manner, and it has been used in cultural areas such as Majiayao, Yangshao, Longshan, Hongshan, Shijiahe, Liangzhu and Shixia in the middle and late Neolithic period. However, by the Erlitou period, the scope of use was suddenly and significantly concentrated, which may be related to the control of turquoise mining resources.
There are two main types of turquoise mines in China and its neighbors: turquoise mines in Ma'anshan, Tongling, Anhui, Iran, Mongolia and other places belong to volcanic rock types, while turquoise mines in Eyu-Shaanxi, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan and Uzbekistan belong to sedimentary rock types. Among them, Eyu Shaanxi is the core production area of turquoise in China, the current output accounts for more than 90% of the country, can be divided into three main ore belts: the north ore belt is Lushi - Luonan, the middle ore belt is Huaichuan - Yunyang - Yunxi - Baihe - Xunyang, the south ore belt is Zhushan - Ziyang. When Professor Yang Xingxing's team carried out the project of "Zhushan Turquoise Origin Traceability System and Geographical Indication Management Research", it established a relatively complete turquoise source characteristic database covering 20 mine sites. Based on its gemology, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics can more accurately determine the ore area, belt or point of turquoise.
Using the reference material to correct the relevant instruments, the research team tested the turquoise specimens excavated from 13 sites in the pre-Qin Dynasty, and compared with the established turquoise source characteristic database, and found that the turquoise excavated in the pre-Qin period in China mainly originated from the Eyu-Shaanxi mining area, the turquoise excavated from neolithics mainly originated from the eastern section of the north ore belt and the middle ore belt, and the turquoise excavated in the Shang and Zhou dynasties had originated from the south ore belt. In general, the source of turquoise excavated in the pre-Qin Dynasty has a tendency to move from the area with low ore bearing rate in the northeast of the Eyu-Shaanxi Mining Area to the area with high ore bearing rate such as the Middle Ore Belt and the South Mineral Belt. Turquoise in Xinjiang during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties was also mined and utilized.
Turquoise excavated from the Erlitou site may originate from multiple ore points in the Eyu-Shaanxi mining area, and a detailed study of the ore source of turquoise excavated in each period of Erlitou can empirically prove that the turquoise ore source was controlled at that time, and the proportion of green pine mining at each ore point can also be used to investigate the ancient ore sites by using the distribution characteristics of the mineral-bearing strata.
Zhao Haitao, Associate Researcher, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:
"The Production of Turquoise Ware in Erlitou Tuyi Inserts"
Turquoise is one of the most important cultural factors of Erlitou culture, which needs to be thoroughly studied. As far as the study of the production of insert turquoise tools is concerned, it is necessary to study the sources of raw materials, production locations, production eras, the identity of craftsmen, production tools, production processes and other issues.
Regarding the source of turquoise ore, Ye Xiaohong of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Professor Li Yanxiang of the University of Science and Technology Beijing have conducted tests respectively. Ye Xiaohong mainly inspected the turquoise mining area at the junction of Hubei, Henan and Shaanxi provinces, and tested 8 samples collected at the Yungai Temple mine site, 4 samples each from the Qingu mine and the Wenfeng mine, and preliminarily judged that the Yungai Temple turquoise mine in the north ore belt should be one of the turquoise ore sources used by the ancestors of Erlitou, while the possibility of Wenfeng and Qingu turquoise ore ore in the south mining belt as the source of the Erlitou site is very low. Li Yanxiang's team collected a total of 55 lead and strontium isotopes in 5 production areas of Luonanhekou Ancient Mine in Shaanxi, Baihe in Shaanxi, Yunxian County, Hubei Province, Zhushan in Hubei Province, and Huaichuan in Henan province for a variety of testing and model analysis, and used this turquoise origin discrimination model to test the origin of turquoise waste excavated at the Erlitou site, and the results showed that the ancient turquoise mining site at the mouth of the Luonan River should be one of the raw materials producing turquoise excavated in Erlitou. Judging from the current scientific and technological testing and research, the turquoise ore material used in Erlitou Duyi may come from multiple mining areas and mining sites, and there is still a lot of uncertainty about this problem, which needs to be tested and studied. It is recommended that the next step is to expand the scope of detection in mining areas and mine sites, improve the means and methods of detection, and increase the number of tests of finished turquoise products and raw materials excavated from ore and sites to further promote the research on this issue.
A yujia workshop was found in the southern part of the Miyagi district of the Erlitou ruins, located in the northeast corner of the workshop area. Unearthed turquoise materials, fine sand, tools and other relics, of which turquoise materials are analyzed as raw materials, stone cores, blanks, waste materials, semi-finished products, broken products, finished products, etc., from the product point of view should be the processing of turquoise pipes, beads and inserts of the workshop, the entire processing process is completed in this workshop, showing a very clear turquoise products production and processing operation chain. Turquoise pottery workshops and bronze workshops were only found in Erlitou Duyi in the Erlitou era, and were in the central axis area, with walls outside, and the area was important and strictly controlled, indicating that the production and distribution of bronze ceremonial vessels and turquoise tools were controlled by the highest ruling class, which was a symbol of royal power. This wall facility provides an important clue for exploring the official handicraft workshop area of the Erlitou site and its social production structure and urban system.
The turquoise processing activities and products in Erlitou Duyi are mainly extended from the first phase to the fourth phase, the first phase is mainly based on pipes and beads, the second phase has dragon shaped utensils, pipes, beads and bronze medal decorations, and the fourth phase has bronze plate decorations and more pipes and beads. The level of processing in the second phase has been very high, and by the fourth phase, it has been able to produce hollowed out turquoise bronze medallions. The lower age limit for the use of turquoise plus workshops was also after the abandonment of the capital. The tools used to process turquoise are still unclear except for the stone, which is an issue worthy of attention in the future.
Including the dragon shaper, relying on the production of organic matter base support of large turquoise insert products, the technology and process used should be more complex, it is speculated that there should be a high level of designers to design the base blueprint, and then according to the blueprint processing of various shapes of the insert and base, the use of a certain adhesive, and with exquisite and clever technology to finally flatten, bonding to complete. Due to the small number of residual components, the material of the base and adhesive has not yet been detected; the specific identity of the producer is only a professional craftsman, or an aristocrat who has mastered superb skills, whether there is a design blueprint, how to stitch it together, how to distribute and circulate after the production is completed, are all more important issues, and it is still necessary to further adopt new technologies and new methods for in-depth exploration.
Professor Wang Qing, Department of Archaeology, Shandong University:
"A Brief Discussion on the Usage of Two Types of Inlaid Turquoise Tools at the Erlitou Site"
Regarding the use of turquoise dragon-shaped vessels excavated from Tomb No. 3 in V. District 3 in 2002, scholars believe that dragon-shaped vessels should be worn on the arms of the owner of the vessel or on the badge on the flag during the ritual activities. However, because of the shanxi Jinhou cemetery of a late Shang Yu Liren is more inspiring, this piece of Jade Liren shape is very special, in the waist circle carved out of a long body dragon obliquely extended, not only complex process and very easy to damage, should be imitated the actual use of the scene carving. It is speculated that the Erlitou dragon-shaped instrument is also likely to be worn at the waist, and the tomb owner, as a priest before his death, should tie the dragon-shaped instrument around the waist during the sacrifice to summon and communicate with the dragon god. Shaanxi Fenghao and other sites have also unearthed the Western Zhou people's first dragon and phoenix pattern jade pendant, the waist is also carved with a dragon shape, similar to the late Shang Yuli people, reflecting the scene of the sacrifice of the gods. It can be seen from this that from the Erlitou Dragon Shaped Instrument to the Late Shang Yuliren to the Fenghao Dragon Phoenix Jade Pendant, it reflects the continuation of the belief in the dragon god in the three generations period, as well as the inheritance of sacrificial magic instruments and the way of use, and inspires us to pay attention to the archaeological discoveries of dragon-shaped theosophical magic tools in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
At present, erlitou has published three pieces of bronze plaques inlaid with turquoise, one for one tomb. These three bronze ornaments are from the chest, waist and wrist position of the tomb owner, which gives rise to different views on how the bronze ornaments are used. However, considering the displacement during the burial process, the bronze plaque ornament should have been worn on the chest of the owner of the tomb, and like the dragon-shaped vessel, it is also an important magic instrument used to communicate with the gods in the sacrificial ceremony.
In addition, the inlaid turquoise dragon-shaped vessels and bronze plaques excavated from the Erlitou site are accompanied by copper bells, indicating that they are a fixed combination of theosophical magic tools. Referring to the Western Han Dynasty "Holding Bell Witch Dance" copper buckle ornament unearthed in Shizhaishan and other places in Yunnan, the copper bell in Erlitou should also be held, and the bell can be sounded when practicing theosophy, "happy to entertain the gods", summoning and communicating with the gods.
In short, the inlaid turquoise tools excavated from the Erlitou site are an important carrier reflecting the spiritual beliefs and artistic traditions of early China, and also an important relic of the archaeological research of the gods, which deserves continued attention in the future.
Professor Zhang Changping, School of History, Wuhan University:
"Decoration of Turquoise and Bronze"
Turquoise, which has long been popular in the Neolithic Era, began to be combined with bronze in a cohesive way from the Erlitou cultural period, and quickly became the mainstream way of turquoise decoration and represented a high-level social identity. The composite material decoration combined with turquoise and bronze has different ways of decorating technology and composition. Decorative technology, one is to glue turquoise to the surface of the bronze, which requires some turquoise pieces to be made into different shapes to shape the decorative pattern. The earlier 1981YLV.M4:5 brand decoration and turquoise patterns adhered to other materials are all based on such a bonding technology, which requires higher turquoise processing technology. The other is to embed turquoise in the concave part of the bronze, and the decorative pattern is expressed in the raised part of the bronze. In this way, there are no special requirements for the shape of turquoise pieces, but they need to be pre-designed and cast on bronze. The later plaques of the Erlitou era are all adopted in this way, which is the choice of the balance of turquoise and bronze making techniques. In terms of decorative composition, plate-like vessels such as card ornaments and ge are composed according to the shape of the instrument, so the animal face pattern on the Erli head ornament is molded into a structure with higher upper and lower dimensions. The bronze container is affected by the shape of the instrument and the block model method technology, the ornament is divided into multiple weeks, multi-unit, the ornamental surface is wide and regular, and such a tradition has been formed since the beginning of the Erlitou bronze. The above two different composition systems implement the Chinese Bronze Age.
The decoration of turquoise combined with bronze was very developed during the Erlitou culture period, and the craftsmanship was exquisite. Even with the inlay technique of the plaque, turquoise pieces are processed in a neat manner. Turquoise was still mainly decorated on flat vessels such as Ge during the Yin Ruins culture, and the popular turquoise decoration at that time was occasionally transferred to bronze containers, but the latter followed the principle of multi-week, multi-unit container decoration. Turquoise of YinXu culture mainly adopts the method of adhesive plastic technology, but turquoise pieces are far less exquisite in terms of shape processing than in the Erlitou cultural period. After the depression of the Western Zhou Dynasty, turquoise began to appear more often on bronze vessels in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, decorated with different ornamental units, which reached a climax in the early and middle Warring States periods. At the same time, swords and other weapons are also more decorated with turquoise. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, these turquoise decorations generally adopted the technical method of inlaying. From the perspective of the place of origin, based on the need for shaping in the Erlitou to Yin ruins cultural period, turquoise pieces must be completed in the bronze production area, so there must be turquoise plus workshops in Erlitou and Yin Ruins. In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, mosaic technology was generally adopted, the shape of turquoise pieces had no special needs, the origin of the vessel could be the same as the source of the mine, and the production process and technology became simplified.
Researcher Wang Fang of Jinsha Site Museum:
Turquoise Tools and Decorations Seen in Ancient Shu Culture
Erlitou culture is the peak of turquoise decoration technology since the Neolithic Era, turquoise dragon-shaped ware, turquoise bronze plaque decoration, turquoise pipes, beads as the representative of turquoise products and large-scale turquoise workshops, all show the incomparable importance of turquoise in the social and cultural level.
Since the Shang Dynasty, the variety of turquoise products has become more abundant, the dragon-shaped ware representing the level of turquoise inlay technology has been continued, and turquoise inlaid on jade and bronze has become more and more popular, and turquoise statues and turquoise ornaments made of turquoise have also been found in sites such as Panlong City, Yin Ruins, Xingan Oceania, and Qianzhaoda.
There are a considerable number of turquoise tools and turquoise ornaments in the ancient Shu culture, and three pieces of turquoise bronze medallions and one artifact of Gao Biao excavated from Sanxingdui Zhenwu Village have obvious evolutionary inheritance relationship with erlitou bronze medallions from a typological point of view; the turquoise sea shells excavated from the Sanxingdui site and the copper tiger inlaid with turquoise pieces are very representative.
In the Jinsha site, a large number of turquoise excavations have been unearthed in the core sacrifice area, in addition to turquoise pipes and beads, there are also turquoise piece jade piece combinations on lacquered wood, inlaid turquoise copper tigers, turquoise beads, pieces and other types. The turquoise products seen at the Jinsha site are considered to be the expression of the sacrifice behavior of the ancient Shu ancestors, and unlike the popular turquoise style of the Shang Dynasty, the ancient Shu culture largely continued the turquoise tradition of the Erlitou and Longshan periods, reflecting a closer connection with the Erlitou culture, which can also be confirmed by the close relationship with the Xia culture reflected in the types and combinations of ancient Shu jade. Yazhang occupies a unique position in the Erlitou jade system, and in the ancient Shu culture, Yazhang and Yuge have always been the core of the sacrifice activities, it can be said that the ancient Shu culture has been imprinted with a profound Erlitou cultural heritage from the sacrifice tradition, the combination of utensils, and the religious concept, showing the cultural origin between the two.
Professor Qin Xiaoli, Department of Literature and Science, Fudan University:
Turquoise Inlays and Adhesives from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age: Sea Shells and Lacquerware
Turquoise inlay technology was first applied to the Majiayao period, gansu Wuba, Qinghai Zongri and other sites excavated a certain number of turquoise and bone ornaments inlay. Later, turquoise products embedded in pottery appeared during the Qijia culture and the Siba culture period, and jade inlays were widely seen in the Longshan period. According to the type of turquoise setting technology, it can be divided into: single turquoise inlay, multi-piece irregular turquoise inlay and regular multi-piece turquoise inlay.
Turquoise inlay technology consists of three elements: body, inlay, and adhesive. In the way of bonding, natural resins and lacquers, natural asphalt, animal skins or animal glues, and direct embedding without the use of adhesives are all possible. The use of multi-piece turquoise inlay technology and black adhesive obviously comes from the northwest region, and the black adhesive is widely used from bone pieces to turquoise inlay, which is one of the indispensable raw materials for inlay technology in the northwest region and the middle reaches of the Yellow River. It is worth noting that there are numerous archaeological examples of the use of natural asphalt as an adhesive on Jomon-era pottery and stone tools from the Middle East, Europe and Hokkaido, Japan. In addition, turquoise inserts, or jade bead inlays, are also found in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and their adhesives may be related to lacquerware developed in the same period, and lacquerware may also be used as an adhesive in the setting technology in this area. Since then, the pottery inlaid turquoise at the Dadianzi site and the lacquerware that have been produced together also belong to this type.
In the late Neolithic period in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Erlitou site, sea shells are mostly found as ornaments, and in turquoise inlaid ceremonial ornaments, sea shells are often used as embellishments in their color matching. The coexistence between the two is relatively close.
The turquoise inlay technique reflected in Erlitou is closely related to the bronze craftsmanship and is unmatched by any late Neolithic turquoise inlay. The inlay from irregular multi-piece to regular multi-piece inlay is a reflection of this high-level technology.
Professor Deng Cong, Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University:
Recent Developments in Prehistoric Turquoise Research in China and Mexico
Turquoise is a precious gemstone that has had a significant impact on the birth of ancient civilizations and kings in Eurasia, especially in China and Central America. China is the first place in the world to use turquoise ornaments, with a history of nearly 9,000 years. On the other hand, the theories and discoveries of archaeological research in Central America occupy an important position in world archaeology. The comparative study of ancient civilizations in China and Mexico has many places where they can learn from each other. Since 2018, the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC GRF14600118) has funded the China-Mexico Prehistoric Turquoise Research Project. In 2018, our collaborator Dr. Melgar Emiliano of the National Institute of Human and Historical Research of Mexico published a report on the turquoise workshop and products excavated from the Great Temple of Tenochititlan in Spanish and English, and discussed the techniques of mosaic making at the Turquoise Workshop in Chaco Canyon. Dr. Melgar published that during the excavations at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan in Mexico, thousands of turquoise artifacts were buried in the temples of the Aztecs, mainly in complex disc artifacts, ornaments of the gods of Nahwa, and attachments to some flint knives. Through the test of Raman spectroscopy, the researchers pointed out that the blue stone decorations unearthed in northwestErn Mexico and southwestern America are turquoise. The author made a preliminary analysis of these turquoise products in terms of their own symbolism, production location, and production tools. During the study, the production process was determined using a SEM electron microscope. According to technical research, Dr. May also pointed out that three turquoise workshops in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan may be related to the Mixtec.
On the other hand, Mr. Wen Guang once pointed out that Ancient Chinese archaeological jade contains a rich variety of mineral types. According to the new discoveries of archaeological research in recent years, I summarize that since the Neolithic Age, China's nephrite and turquoise have stood out from many ancient jade types and become the most socially valuable material representatives of ancient Chinese jade. About 7500 years ago, the Culture of Xinglongwa in Northeast China and the turquoise ornaments of Jiahu Culture in Henan in the middle reaches of the Yellow River reflect each other, and gradually develop into two prehistoric green ancient jade value systems. The emergence of this particular phenomenon of the choice of green symbolism may be intrinsically linked to the major development of agricultural origins triggered by holocene climate change. Similarly, for the phenomenon of the symbolic choice of green color, Western scholars have invariably pointed out in recent years that there were similar discoveries in the early Prehistoric Holocene culture in West Asia, which attracted people's attention.
From the perspective of technical history, the world turquoise inlay process can be divided into two major types of technology, namely the Western metal wireframe filling and insert system represented by ancient Egypt and the wedge-shaped insert three-dimensional device-shaped mosaic system represented by the Oriental Erlitou. Turquoise products excavated from the Tenochtitlan Grand Temple in Mexico in Central America are also similar to the Eastern technical system, and there is a high similarity in craftsmanship technology with Erlitou. Turquoise research in Central America is quite mature, and it has very important reference value for the study of turquoise in Erlitou.
Erlitou's Turquoise Production Technology Organization (Technological Organisation) needs to be analyzed in depth, and the preliminary synthesis includes the birth of the wedge-shaped hypotenuse, diverse geometries, standardization and miniature splicing, and the production of the representative of the Erlitou King's Power, climbing to the top of the history of Chinese turquoise craftsmanship. For example, in the Turquoise insert of Erlitou, the smallest is only one millimeter in size, and the volume is about the same as a grain of millet, but it has a complete wedge structure and a smooth surface. Technological choices include the mystery of combining biomechanics with props on the tip of a human finger. The processing technology of Erlitou turquoise inserts is based on stone tool processing technology such as beating and grinding, and the processing tools mainly rely on simple stone hammers and ortho stone. Through experimental archaeology, we can change a piece of turquoise flake material into a rectangular insert in about 40 minutes, and it is estimated that the production of more than 2,000 pieces of M3 turquoise dragon-shaped ware takes at least more than 1400 hours to complete. The tiny inserts processed by a complex process are finally combined into a magnificent turquoise dragon-shaped vessel "Super National Treasure" with a length of about 70 centimeters, showing the symbol of the supreme kingship of Erlitou.
The prehistoric nephrite culture in present-day East Asia has produced a lot of research. The study of the archaeological system of prehistoric turquoise culture history is still very weak. The study of Chinese prehistoric turquoise culture, from the early Holocene to the birth of civilized society, the establishment of one of the highest material values of ancient society will have great academic significance.
Finally, The director of the Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Xiang Ming, made a concluding speech:
Director Xiang Ming summarized that the turquoise comprehensive research seminar focused on seven issues:
First, the problem of raw materials
Turquoise raw materials involve the acquisition of resources, long-distance exchanges, and even trade. On the issue of raw material sources, Teacher Yang Xingxing and Teacher Zhang Dengyi put forward their own views from a professional perspective. At the same time, the relationship between turquoise and nephrite was inseparable in the Neolithic period.
Second, the problem of mosaicking
The concept of inlay is divided into two parts, gluing and embedding, in fact, it is two means of expression, inlaying needs to dig a small nest, and the sticking is to directly glue the jade piece and turquoise piece to it.
Third, the problem of long-distance transmission
Zhang Juzhong, Xiang Ming and Wang Fang respectively introduced the basic situation of turquoise products in JiaHu, Liangzhu and ancient Shu cultures, and Teacher Qin Xiaoli introduced the overview of inlaid turquoise from a broader time and space range, whether it is turquoise or the long-distance transmission of the production process, it involves human exchanges and is worth paying close attention to.
Fourth, the problem of process
Teacher Zhang Changping pointed out that the combination of turquoise pieces and bronzes in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the application of viscoplasm far exceeded the inlay, and nephrite no longer appeared as decorative pieces. Adhesives are also the focus of discussions at this conference, and further research requires a combination of scientific and archaeological techniques and more direct materials.
Professor Deng Cong pointed out that the two process technology systems of the east and the west are very inspiring, turquoise has been used for a long time, and the Longshan Liangzhu stage has opened up a new stage of turquoise technology.
Fifth, the problem of function
Teacher Wang Qing made a well-founded speculation on how to use turquoise tools in Erlitou, reminding us to pay attention to the relationship between excavations when studying antiquities.
Sixth, the problem of turquoise workshops
Zhao Haitao focused on the problem of turquoise workshops, which are very important, and the workshop is the best and most direct place to study the turquoise process in Erlitou.
Seventh, the problem of methods
Professor Deng Cong's use of high-definition photography for microscopic research is essentially through the microscopic research technology process, the concept behind the research technology and their dissemination and exchange, which is worth learning from scholars. Comparative research between China and foreign countries has an international perspective, and it is also important to learn from similar research by foreign scholars. Finally, future research on the importance of turquoise social value has put forward higher universities for field excavations and laboratory archaeology, and it is necessary to find breakthroughs in the field.
After the conference, the participating scholars visited the Erlitou Xiadu Site Museum and the Erlitou Archaeological Site Park, and the Erlitou Turquoise Comprehensive Research Seminar was a complete success.
Source: China Archaeological Network