Metallurgical analyses reveal brass production in the Northeast China

Metallurgical analyses of copper-based artefacts recovered from the royal temple of Changbai Mountain Deity in Northeast China reveals industrial brass-production in 12th -13th centuries. Brass, which used to be imported from the West, had been converted to locally produced and extensively adopted as an alternative to bronze during this era. Compared with brass objects from the Taizicheng site in North China, the consistency in the zinc content shows a high level of technic uniformity, suggesting that localisation of brass-production may have emerged at an earlier stage. Bronze scrapes were employed to manufacture Cu-Zn-Sn alloy for certain purposes. Lead isotopic analysis implies a multi-centre provenance of zinc ores, spanning from North China to Northeast China, further specified by serials of historical texts. The divergence of value observed between bronze and brass artifacts indicates a shortage of tin resources, which might be the primary catalyst for a bronze-to-brass transition within the Jin State.