A Metal Production Center on the Southwest Frontier of the Han Empire: An Archaeometallurgical Study of the Heimajing Cemetery Site in Gejiu, Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

The Gejiu region in southeast Yunnan Province was an important metal and ore production area in China as early as the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. – A.D. 220). Past archaeological investigations in this region discovered an ancient smelting site. Large numbers of smelting-related relics including lead discs, copper ingots, and smelting wastes were also excavated from the Heimajing cemetery site nearby. These discoveries suggest that the burial occupants were probably involved in ancient mining, metal smelting, and the metal production industry. An archaeometallurgical analysis of smelting-related relics was conducted. The results demonstrated that lead, copper, and different copper-base alloys were produced in the region. The chemical compositional analysis and lead isotope studies of the samples collected from the Heimajing cemetery site suggest that there was probably a production and supply system and a demand for copper-base products in the Dian Kingdom (now central Yunnan) and Jiaozhi commandery (now northern Vietnam) through cross-regional resource allocation. The Gejiu region therefore might have had a complete industry chain on the southwest frontier of the Han Empire.