山西绛县西吴壁遗址东周遗迹出土冶铜炉渣研究——兼叙复杂文化堆积中冶金遗物时代特征的判别方法

A Study on Copper Slag Unearthed from Eastern Zhou Dynasty Remains at the Xiwubi Site in Jiangxian County, Shanxi Province

为探究山西绛县西吴壁遗址东周遗迹出土冶铜炉渣的时代特征,本文选取23件样品进行科学分析并深度讨论。检测表明,这些炉渣的冶炼产品均为红铜。炉渣基体含铜量的浮动范围较大,且基体物相常见磁铁矿,反映了冶炼工艺并不稳定。比较发现,西吴壁东周遗迹出土炉渣所反映的冶铜技术特征与东周时期典型冶铜遗址冶铜技术特征之间存在显著差异,且熔铜技术特征也不明显,因而推断本文炉渣很可能来自西吴壁夏商时期的冶铜活动,是与大量夏商时期陶片一起混入东周遗迹当中的。本研究对于系统探讨西吴壁乃至晋南地区先秦时期冶金技术面貌具有积极意义,并基于西吴壁材料开发了一套复杂文化堆积中冶金遗物时代特征的判别流程,在当前蓬勃发展的冶金考古工作中具有较好的应用前景。

This article analyzed 23 samples of copper slag excavated from the Eastern Zhou remains at Xibubi,Shanxi province and studied their characteristics associated with the time.The analytical results showed that the products of the slag were rose copper.The copper content in the slag varied in a wide range,where magnetic was often found,indicating the unstable metallurgical technology.The slag remains were likely from the copper smelting activities in the Xia and the Shang periods and were introduced with Xia-Shang pottery shards,as their technical features were not noticeable and were distinctly different from those of the Eastern Zhou relics.This study is valuable for the research of the metallurgic technology in Xibuwi and in the southern Shanxi area.More importantly,a program to identify the characteristics of the time of smelting product remains in complicated cultural accumulations is developed based on Xiwubi materials,which has a considerable application prospect in the thriving archaeometallurgy.