Abstract:
This thesis first collects and presents all the basic, objective, and complete information currently available on bronze objects, site by site in northern China during the 4th and 3rd millennium B. P. with particular attention being paid to the catalogue, figures, and related cultural ascription of the bronze objects.
It surveys archaeological complexes located in the northeast, north-central, and northwest of China. Their distribution, chronology, periodization, cultural features, origins, and the bronze assemblages and metallurgical techniques unique to each culture are the main focus. The cultural development of each complex, and the cultural connections between various archaeological complexes during different periods are also discussed. Apart from the internal connections within the northern bronze cultures, their external relations, namely their relations with the Central Plain, Xinjiang region and the Eurasian Steppe are also analyzed. The cultural and chronological framework of bronzes in northern China during the 4th and 3rd millennium B. P. is thus provided.
Finally, this study offers an insight into the origins of early metallurgy in northern China, on the basis of an analysis on all of the earliest copper/bronze objects available in northern China, providing an opportunity for a fresh understanding on the origin of the earliest metallurgy in the world.