Abstract
There are two points of view on the origins of Chinese metallurgy. The most widespread idea is that it originated and developed as a result of impulses from the steppe cultures of Southern Siberia. The second point of view: Chinese metallurgy originated in the Neolithic of the Yangtze basin and then spread to the Yellow River basin. This version explains the paradox of Chinese metallurgy better, as copper-tin alloys replaced pure copper. However, the analysis of the Neolithic materials of the Yangtze and Yellow River basins showed that metallurgical production was there in a much-underdeveloped form. The number of copper objects has been exaggerated due to erroneous dating. The earliest well-documented smelting sites appeared in the late 3rd millennium BC in Gansu, but there is no evidence of their connection with Siberian cultures. There is no evidence of Andronovo influences. The Seima-Turbino impulse, which coincided with the beginning of the Shang Dynasty around the 16 century BC, probably, had an impact. But it spread not from the west but the north. This impulse probably stimulated the use of copper-tin alloys, but the use of bronzes in a ritual context was the main reason.
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This work was supported by a grant from the Center for Chinese Studies (Taipei, Taiwan).
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Grigoriev, S.A. (2022). Internal and External Impulses for the Development of Ancient Chinese Metallurgy. In: Ankusheva, N., Chechushkov, I.V., Stepanov, I., Ankushev, M., Ankusheva, P. (eds) Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy. Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86040-0_1
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