eprintid: 10043217 rev_number: 23 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/04/32/17 datestamp: 2018-02-13 13:56:19 lastmod: 2021-10-06 22:19:47 status_changed: 2018-02-13 13:56:19 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Liu, S creators_name: Chen, KL creators_name: Rehren, T creators_name: Mei, JJ creators_name: Chen, JL creators_name: Liu, Y creators_name: Killick, D title: Did China Import Metals from Africa in the Bronze Age? ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B03 divisions: C03 divisions: F31 divisions: K74 keywords: Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Archaeology, Chemistry, Analytical, Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear, Geosciences, Multidisciplinary, Chemistry, Geology, lead isotopes, highly radiogenic lead, Shang bronze, provenance, STABLE LEAD-ISOTOPE, ORE SOURCES, ARTIFACTS, COPPER, SITES, MESOPOTAMIA, PROVENANCE, TIN note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. abstract: The origins of the copper, tin and lead for China's rich Bronze Age cultures are a major topic in archaeological research, with significant contributions being made by archaeological fieldwork, archaeometallurgical investigations and geochemical considerations. Here, we investigate a recent claim that the greater part of the Shang-period metalwork was made using metals from Africa, imported together with the necessary know-how to produce tin bronze. A brief review of the current status of lead isotopic study on Shang-period bronze artefacts is provided first, clarifying a few key issues involved in this discussion. It is then shown that there is no archaeological or isotopic basis for bulk metal transfer between Africa and China during the Shang period, and that the copper and lead in Shang bronze with a strongly radiogenic signature is not likely to be from Africa. We call for collaborative interdisciplinary research to address the vexing question of the Shang period's metal sources, focusing on smelting sites in geologically defined potential source regions and casting workshops identified at a number of Shang settlements. date: 2018-02-01 date_type: published publisher: WILEY official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12352 oa_status: green full_text_type: other language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green article_type_text: Article verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1533171 doi: 10.1111/arcm.12352 lyricists_name: Chen, Kunlong lyricists_name: Rehren, Thilo lyricists_id: KCHEN14 lyricists_id: TREHR72 actors_name: Rehren, Thilo actors_id: TREHR72 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Archaeometry volume: 60 number: 1 pagerange: 105-117 pages: 13 issn: 1475-4754 citation: Liu, S; Chen, KL; Rehren, T; Mei, JJ; Chen, JL; Liu, Y; Killick, D; (2018) Did China Import Metals from Africa in the Bronze Age? Archaeometry , 60 (1) pp. 105-117. 10.1111/arcm.12352 <https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12352>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10043217/1/Liu%20et%20al%202018%20re-submittion%20ThR%20fin.pdf