The 2015–2019 excavation of the bronze foundry site at the Huanbei Shang City in Anyang, Henan

Abstract

The Anyang Team of Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducted five excavations of a bronze foundry site at the Huanbei Shang City from 2015 to 2019. A variety of archaeological features were discovered, ranging from the foundation built from calcareous nodules and rammed earth, bronze melting and casting area, refuse area, sacrificial pit, ash pit, well, and cache pit. Many artifacts related to metallurgy were also unearthed, including clay molds, models, cores, bellow nozzles, slag, furnace fragments, charcoal, bone gravers, and whetstones. The discovery of this bronze foundry site is of great value for the study of the Huanbei Shang City layout, the operation, and management of bronze casting, technological transmission, and other questions. Bronze casting technology at Huanbei Shang City was still in its early stages of development, but it laid a solid foundation for the later flourishing of the bronze civilization at Yinxu.