Iron Age China

Spring & Autumn Period vessel.

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The Iron Age in Ancient China began in ca. 600 BC (early Iron Age). Ancient China is taken to last until the beginning of Early Imperial China and the rise of the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century BC. This corresponds to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of Chinese history.

In 1972, near the city of Gaocheng (藁城) in Shijiazhuang (now Hebei province), an iron-bladed bronze tomahawk (铁刃青铜钺) dating back to the 14th century BC was excavated. After a scientific examination, the iron was shown to be made from meteoric iron. The Iron Age in East Asia began in earnest, however, when cast-iron^[1] objects appeared in Yangzi Valley toward the end of the 6th century BC.^[2] The few objects were found at Changsha and Nanjing. According to the mortuary evidence suggests that the initial use of iron in Guangdong belongs to the mid to late Warring States period (from about 350 BC).

The techniques used in Lingnan is a combination of bivalve moulds of distinct southern tradition and the incorporation of piece mould technology from the Zhongyuan The products of the combination of these two periods are bells, vessels, weapons and ornaments and the sophisticated cast.

An Iron Age culture of the Tibetan Plateau has tentatively been associated with the Zhang Zhung culture described in early Tibetan writings.

References

1. ^ About Cast iron In China, http://www.wroughtironweb.com/Cast_Iron_In_China_and_Europe.html, retrieved 2010-03-22 
2. ^ Higham, Charles. 1996. The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia

See also

• Bronze Age China
• History of China
• Iron Age India