Indigenous brass production in Medieval South China

Recent years witness an increasing number of brass objects discovered in ancient China from the 2nd -13th centuries. However, crucibles and slags, served as the most direct and solid evidence for localization of brass production in medieval China, remains absent. It is a long-lasting problem for achieve a better comprehension of Chinese brass technology, including time and space, raw materials, alloy strategy and so on. This paper presents a bunch of brass-production crucibles along with alloying crucibles, unearthed from the Royal Palace and Government Offices Site of the Nanyue Kingdom in Guangzhou City, for the first and only time. A serial of portable XRF, SEM-EDS and lead isotopic analysis have revealed high content of zinc in crucible fragments, numerous zinc oxide residues, metal pills of copper and brass and native ore signature, providing evidence for the localization of brass technology in South China during the 9th -10th centuries. An furth attempt is also made to reconstruct the brass production process in the official workshop on the basis of crucible remains and their scientific examination.