A cast-iron bridge pier dated 96 BCE found in Sichuan, China
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Published
Sep 15, 2021
Abstract
A cast-iron bridge pier weighing 1.38 tons and dated 96 BCE was discovered in 2007 near Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Nearby were found fragments of the mould in which it was cast. The article describes the metallography of the artefact and reconstructs the process by which it was cast.
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References
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Xin Tang shu 1975, 新唐書 [New standard history of the Tang Dynasty by Ouyang Xiu, 1107–1172] (Shanghai).
Fan Wanglin and Li Maolin 1991, ‘Tang tieniu yu Pujin Qiao’ [The Tang-period iron oxen and Pujin Bridge], Kaogu yu wenwu [Archaeology and cultural relics] 1991(1), 52–55.
Fong Wen (ed) 1980, The great bronze age of China: An exhibition from the People’s Republic of China (London).
Henan sheng Wenwu Yanjiusuo 1991, ‘Nanyang Beiguan Wafangzhuang Handai yetie yizhi fajue baogao’ [Excavation of a Han-period iron-smelting site at Wafangzhuang, Beiguan, in Nanyang Municipality, Henan], Huaxia kaogu [Huaxia archaeology] 1991(2).
Huang Lixin and Liu Yunzhi (eds) 2004, Ru Shu ji yuezhu (Critical edition of Record of a journey to Sichuan by Lu You, 1125–1210), Zhongguo Wenlian Chubanshe.
Li Jinghua 2003, ‘Handai tieqi mingwen yu tieguan zhiguan tixi de yanjiu’ [A study of the inscriptions on Han-period iron artefacts and the administration of the iron offices], in Zhongyuan gudai yejin jishu yanjiu, di er ji. Zhongzhou Guji Chubanshe.
Li shi • Li xu 1986, Explanations of characters in the lishu style by Hong Kuo (or Gua), 1117–1184. Zhonghua Shuju.
Liu Zhangze, Liu Jun and Zhang Shenggang 2015, ‘Sichuan Guanghan shi faxian Xi Han jinian tie “Luojiang qiaodun” ’ [The ‘Luojiang Bridge Pier’ with a Western Han date discovered in Guanghan Municipality, Sichuan], Sichuan wenwu [Sichuan cultural relics] 2005(1), 5–9 + inside front cover.
Long Teng and Xia Hui 2002, ‘Pujiang xian chutu Handai laopen kao’ [A Han-period laopeng cauldron unearthed in Pujiang County, Sichuan], Yanye shi yanjiu [Studies in the history of the salt industry] 2002(2), 9–10.
Needham J 1971, Science and civilisation in China, vol 4, part 3: Civil engineering and nautics (Cambridge).
Shi ji 1962. Records of the historian by Sima Qian, c145–90 BCE (Beijing).
Wagner D B 2000, ‘Chinese monumental iron castings’, Journal of East Asian Archaeology 2(3/4), 199-224.
Wagner D B 2008, Science and civilisation in China, vol 5, part 11: Ferrous metallurgy (Cambridge).
Xin Tang shu 1975, 新唐書 [New standard history of the Tang Dynasty by Ouyang Xiu, 1107–1172] (Shanghai).
How to Cite
A cast-iron bridge pier dated 96 BCE found in Sichuan, China. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 49(1), 26-36. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/73
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How to Cite
A cast-iron bridge pier dated 96 BCE found in Sichuan, China. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 49(1), 26-36. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/73