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A rapidly increasing number of bronze mirrors dated to the Chinese Han dynasty (202 BC – AD 220), known for their unique decorative patterns and highly developed alloying techniques, have been widely discovered in both China and beyond, providing fresh materials and scientific data to revisit their geological provenance, production and circulation network along the ancient Silk Road. In this paper, 47 bronze mirrors unearthed in the southeastern provinces of China, including Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian provinces, have been characterized by typo-chronology, lead isotopic analysis, compositional analysis and metallography. A much wider comparative study is also carried out through a combination of data from China, Japan, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, leading to a more updated lead isotopic database of the Han mirrors spreading out of China in various directions. Compared with the traditional ‘optimal’ model based on the Han mirrors recovered in Japan, the current study contributes several key changes in the bronze mirror production of the Han dynasty. The systematic analysis of the alloy composition, trace elements and typological studies shows that the bronze mirror industry shifted towards a more standardized production in the middle to late Western Han Dynasty. In contrast to the substantial change of non-mirror bronze productions, the similar distribution of lead isotope data in early and middle to late Western Han mirrors suggests that the ‘official monopoly of salt and iron’ policy was less effective for the management of lead involved in mirror production. Bronze mirrors dated to middle to late Western Han discovered outside Han-China, such as Japan, Thailand, Afghanistan, Xiongnu and the ancient Dian Kingdom, appear to be subjected to a more specific type of lead as a result of the state-centralized policy of the Western Han court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions on colonialism are pervasive in western scholarship but are hardly ever applied to the archeology of China. The present paper shows how concepts of colonialism and migration research can be successfully applied to understand Han imperial expansion into southwest China and how the Chinese material can in turn contribute to developing theories and methods of colonialism research further. Taking the Shamaoshan cemetery as a case study, the present paper combines archeological, textual, environmental, and isotope data to gain insights into strategies and processes of Han imperial expansion into southwest China. The insights gained here show that the long-accepted story-line of simple "Sinicization" and political control is far from accurate. Instead, it took over a century of cross-cultural exchange with immigrants and locals adopting each other's customs to varying degrees. While in the beginning the Han seem to have taken a top-down approach to "civilizing" the region through their elites, the present study suggests that in the end it was the lower levels of society that intermingled most intensively and helped integrate migrants and locals successfully. Moving away from the exclusive focus on exceptional graves and large sites, the present study thus shows the great value of approaching small, poorly equipped graves with new methods, combining isotope research with a nuanced analysis of burial remains. Evaluated together with the evidence from the well-known exceptional graves, lesser-known settlement material, and historical accounts, the Shamaoshan case study has made it clear that various types of contact, colonial and otherwise, play out quite differently within different social groups and historical situations. This study thus proposes a multisource, multimethod approach that moves away from a narrative dominated by the history-writing elite segments of the colonizing force to a multivoiced account integrating local and outside perceptions at various social levels, an approach that might successfully be applied in other parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endangered wild Yangtze alligators (Alligator sinensis) inhabit the downstream subtropical lakes and swamps of the Yangtze River at a latitude of approximately 30° N. What remains puzzling is the discovery of the remains of Yangtze alligators at many Middle and Late Neolithic archeological sites in North China, mainly in the form of alligator osteoderms buried in tombs of the elite. To determine whether these Yangtze alligators were indigenous or were part of long-distance trading between the northern and southern parts of China, we conducted a strontium isotope analysis of alligator osteoderms from three archaeological sites dating from the Late Neolithic Age (2500~1900 BC). The results show that these remains are mainly indigenous, which means that the northern boundary of the distribution of Yangtze alligators may even have reached the Yellow River basin 4000 years ago. Based on historical records from the Longshan and Erlitou Periods (2500~1600 BC), which mention some clans specializing in breeding "dragons" during the Yu (虞) and Xia (夏) Dynasties, combined with the discovery of dragon and alligator images from the Xia and Shang Dynasties, we believe that society at that time viewed Yangtze alligators as the manifestation of "dragons." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original version of this article, unfortunately, contained errors. The original version of this article, unfortunately, contained errors. The corresponding author failed to notice that Professor Wu Xiaotong's affiliation is incorrect. Wu Xiaotong should have been affiliated to "Shandong University" instead of "Jilin University. Given in this article is the corrected affiliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]