Periphery and core: insights from the scientific analysis of bronzes from Panlongcheng

Panlongcheng was a pivotal military and resource hub established in the south during the Early Shang period (Erligang period). More than 500 bronze artifacts have been unearthed from the site, yet fewer than one-tenth have been subjected to scientific analysis, and the analyzed samples are concentrated mainly in the later phases of the site (Panlongcheng Phases V-VII). In this study, 21 bronze samples spanning Phases III-VII were investigated using multiple analytical methods, including pXRF, metallographic microscopy, and lead isotope analysis, yielding an important new dataset. The results not only confirm the remelting of bronze tools at the site, but also show that high-lead bronzes occur more frequently at Panlongcheng than among bronzes excavated from the Zhengzhou region, where the Shang royal capital was located. Nevertheless, the bronzes from Panlongcheng and Zhengzhou share more similarities than differences in both alloy types and the provenance of metal raw materials. These findings suggest that the resource-political framework established by the early Shang polity facilitated the acquisition of bronze metal resources from peripheral regions while also contributing to the development of bronze casting technology in the region.