Wuchuan bronzes and cinnabar mining immigrants during the Qin and Han Dynasties—new perspectives from typological and lead isotope analysis

Abstract

The Han burials in the Wuchuan region of the northeast Yungui Plateau are known for the cinnabar grains placed within. Many bronze grave goods are morphologically similar to those in the Central Plains, providing clues for studying the immigrants from the Central Plains during the Qin and Han Dynasties. Our results indicate that Wuchuan bronzes are stylistically similar to the Qin bronzes in northern China. We combine lead isotope and alloy composition analyses to classify Wuchuan bronzes into three provenance groups. By comparing the lead isotope data of the bronze artifacts of the Qin and Han Dynasties, we find that the bronze wares of the early Western Han Dynasty in Wuchuan were all imported from northern China. Conversely, the Eastern Han Dynasty bronzes were likely produced locally using the metal resources from the Yungui Plateau. Those northern China bronzes were possibly imported into this region by mining immigrants, as the Yungui Plateau is rich in mercury resources. According to historical documents, Wuchuan was a major cinnabar and mercury production center, and its mercury resources were exploited on a large scale during the Qin and Han Dynasties. Therefore, mining was the main driver for this southward immigration.