战国至汉代八棱柱器物的考古学观察

Archaeological Study of Octagonal Sticks from Warring States Period to Han Dynasty

八棱柱状器物是我国黄河流域的陕西、河南、山东、江苏等地战国至汉代墓葬中出土的一类特殊器物。其材质包括石质、玉质、玻璃质和硅酸铜钡,后者为研究中国古代人工合成颜料提供了关键材料。其形制根据八棱变化可分为标准、锥状、亚腰和带圆座八棱柱四型。据统计,其最主要的用途为葬器,少量用作装饰品。此类器物最早出现于战国时期河南地区,流行于战国晚期至西汉的中国北方地区,东汉渐进尾声。

Octagonal sticks are a special kind of artifacts unearthed from the tombs of the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty in the Yellow River Basin of China, including presentday Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, and Jiangsu. Their materials include stone, jade, glass and copperbarium silicate, the latter providing the key information for the study of ancient Chinese synthetic pigments. Their shapes can be divided into four types: standard, tapered, sub-waist and octagonal prism with round seat. According to statistics, they were mainly used as funerary objects, and a small amount were used for decoration. Such artifacts first appeared in Henan during the Warring States Period, and were prevalent in northern China from the late Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty. During the Eastern Han Dynasty they gradually declined and disappeared.