Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Pieces of aluminium, supposedly parts of a set of belt ornaments, were found in a Jin dynasty (AD 265–420) tomb during excavations in the 1950s. The authenticity of these finds was questioned at the time in view of the technology required to isolate aluminium from its ore. In this review the archaeological and analytical evidence is reconsidered, but the matter remains unsettled, as it is known, from experimental evidence, that aluminium alloys can be prepared by the carbon reduction of alumina. Examination of the thermodynamic data for this process in terms of Ellingham diagrams demonstrates unequivocally that the temperature required for this process is greatly in excess of that possible with Jin dynasty technology, and so the finds cannot be authentic. However, it is quite possible that metallic objects containing small quantities of aluminium could have been produced in China at that time. The review ends with some speculation on how the pieces of aluminium came to be in the tomb.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Butler

A. R.

, Glidewell

and Needham

, The solubilisation of cinnabar. Explanation of a sixth-century Chinese alchemical recipe. J. Chem. Research 47 (1980)

The term mosaic gold has been applied to a number of preparations for giving objects a gold gilt, including ormolu (an alloy of copper, zinc and tin) and tin(IV) sulphide; our usage is here restricted to the latter.

Butler

A. R.

, Glidewell

, Needham

and Pritchard

, Mosaic gold in Europe and China. Chemistry in Britain 132–135 (1983).

Zong-chen

Luo

, Report of an Excavation of a Jin tomb at Yi-xing in Jiang su. Chinese Journal of Archaeology 18, 83–107 (1957).

Shi-ying

Shen

, Notes on the chemical composition of the belt ornaments from the Western Jin period found in the tomb of Zhou Chu at Yi-xing in Jiang-su. Archaeological Correspondent 9, 503–508 (1962).

Ken

Yang

, An aluminium-copper alloy of the Jin dynasty. Chinese Journal of Archaeology 26, 91–95 (1959).

Zong-chen

Luo

, Rejoinder to Shen Shi-ying. Archaeological Correspondent 165–166 (1963).

Anon, Aluminium from the past. Metallen 95–96 (1960).

Anon, Did the Chinese of the Jin dynasty discover the first aluminium-copper alloy? Revue de l'Aluminium 180–110 (1961).

10.

Needham

, Science and Civilisation in China, Vol. 5, Part 2, p. 192, Cambridge University Press (1974).

11.

Mellor

J. W.

, A Comprehensive Treatise of Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, Vol. 5, p. 151, Longman, Green and Co., London (1924).

12.

Davy

, Electrochemical researches on the decomposition of the earths, with observations on the metals obtained from the alkaline earths, and on the amalgam procured from ammonia. Phil Mag. 17, 333–370 (1808).

13.

Franksen

O. I.

, H. C. Ørsted, p. 16, Stransbergs Forlag, Birkerød (1981).

14.

Møller

K. M.

, Aluminium – the sensation at the world exhibition in Paris. Danish Journal 42–44 (1977).

15.

Weeks

M E.

and Leicester

H. M.

. Discovery of the Elements (7th edition) p. 97 published by Journal of Chemical Education, Easton (1963).

16.

Cowles

E. H.

, Cowles

A. H.

and Mabery

C. F.

, On the electrical furnace and the reduction of the oxides of boron, silicon, aluminium and other metals by carbon. Amer. J. Science 30, 308–312 (1885).

17.

Needham

, The Development of Iron and Steel Technology in China, Cambridge University Press, London (1964).

18.

Dannatt

C. W.

and Ellingham

H. J. T.

, Roasting and reduction processes – a general survey. Discuss. Faraday Soc. 4, 126–132 (1948).

19.

Kubaschewski

, Evans

B. L.

and Alcock

C. B.

, Metallurgical Thermochemistry, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1967.

20.

Nai

Xia

, Re-examination of the metal buckles discovered in the Jin tomb of General Zhou Chu. Essays on Archaeology of Science and Technology in China 122–129 (1979).

21.

Sivin

, Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1968).

22.

The manuscript was received

15 November 1984.

Aluminium Objects from a Jin Dynasty Tomb – Can They Be Authentic?

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References