Archaeometric study of the iron objects from the Xuechi sacrificial site and its implication for bloomery iron smelting during early Western Han period in China

Abstract

Metallographic examination and compositional study of slag inclusions on iron objects unearthed from Xuechi in Shaanxi, China, have revealed the smelting and manufacturing techniques employed at this Western Han dynasty sacrificial site. The results suggest two production systems among the samples: all knives, nails, and farming implements were made from cast iron that had been decarburised/malleablised through annealing or fining process. It is proposed that these samples were produced in designated state-owned workshop. Two horse-bit sets, on the other hand, were forged into shape using both bloomery iron and fined iron from various sources, with possible repairing and recycling involved in the manufacturing process. It is therefore argued that the horse bits found in the site came with the horse and had been produced separately from the other iron objects. Furthermore, this paper argues that although cast iron-based production was the main method for large-scale iron production, small-scale bloomery iron smelting may have been practiced during the Western Han dynasty in certain regions as an alternate but economically viable method.