银

SILVER

从很古的时候起,人们就利用自然银制作小件饰物。当掌握了从矿石中提取银的方法以后,银大量用于制造器皿、饰物,以及作为货币。目前世界上发现最早的银器是公元前4000年的,系用自然银制作。从乌尔、迈科普等遗址中出土银制器物的检验表明,在公元前2000年,这些地区已掌握用灰吹法提炼银。上文已经述及,我国发现的最早银器物是1976年在甘肃玉门火烧沟遗址出土的金、银制成的耳环和鼻环,时间相当于夏代(公元前21—16世纪)。我国灰吹法的技术出现于何时。

Silver was used in China no later than the Xia dynasty.The traditional method of silver smelting could be divided into two major steps:one was to produce silver- bearing lead,and the other was to oxidize the lead into litharge by cupellation and leave the silver alone.The author has visited ancient silver smelting localities in southwest China and obtained a great amount of information. Silver was used as ornaments and utensils in ancient China,but not as monetary commodity until the Song dynasty.The annual...