Fighting and burial: the production of bronze weapons in the Shu state based on a case study of Xinghelu cemetery, Chengdu, China

This article discusses the bronze weapons discovered in the Xinghelu cemetery of Chengdu, China in order to study the production of bronze weapons in the Shu state. Metallographic microscopy, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) were used to analyze 56 bronze samples. The results show that normal size weapons contain more lead or tin than the equivalent small weapons. Some normal size weapons were made from the same lead sources as the small ones; others, such as the dagger-axe and scabbards, might be imported products. To match the imported scabbards, swords of comparable size were cast or chosen. Most of the small weapons may have been produced by type, while the variable alloying composition and size for each weapon suggests multiple casting processes.