Archaeologists, earlier this month, unearthed the ruins of ancient
bronze workshops dating back almost 3,000 years in the Zhouyuan
area of Baoji, northwest China's
Shaanxi
Province.
They are the first unearthed bronze workshops from the Western Zhou
Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC), archaeologists said.
An
area of ruins, covering 300 square meters, of bronze workshops in
Zhuangli Village of Zhouyuan was identified, Xu Lianggao, leader of
an archaeological group working on the excavation, told Xinhua news
agency yesterday.
Six pits and a large number of pottery moulds and forms have been
found at the site and confirmed to be the ruins of bronze
workshops, said Xu, who is also a researcher with the Archaeology
Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences.
Known as the home of Chinese bronzeware, Zhouyuan has yielded large
quantities of ancient bronzewares.
These rare and valuable items bear fascinating inscriptions and
splendid decorations, and have shed light on the development of
this art form.
The exact location of the sites where the bronzewares were made
had, however, remained a mystery until the discovery of the
workshop ruin.
The discovery of bronze workshop ruins has provided solid evidence
of where bronzewares were produced during the Western Zhou and
later dynasties, Xu said.
Located in the middle of Shaanxi Province, Zhouyuan played an
important role economically and socially in the Zhou Dynasty.
Handicrafts progressed in this period and the bronze industry was
especially important. Bronze works greatly increased in quality,
quantity and variety so that their use encompassed nearly every
aspect of life.
The discovery of the bronze workshop ruins in Zhouyuan has also
contributed to the research of the manufacturing techniques of
bronzeware and exemplified the high technical standard of bronze
production of that period, explained Xu.
The development of the bronze industry during the Western Zhou
period also promoted the prosperity of other industries and greatly
enhanced productivity, he said.
(China Daily April 29, 2003)