Scientific research on glass Jue found in the Iron Age of Southeast Asia and its indications for contacts with China

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3460899/v1

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Scientific research on glass Jue found in the Iron Age of Southeast Asia and its indications for contacts with China

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3460899/v1

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In this paper, 44 glass Jue collected in Southeast Asia have been scientifically studied by means of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), optical coherence tomography (OCT), optical microscopy (OM) and confocal laser Raman microspectroscopy(LRS). Chemical compositions, phase components, internal physical structures and surface micromorphology of the Jue samples are obtained. According to the scientific analysis results, the glass types of the Jue samples can be classified into three types, potash glass, soda-alumina glass and potash-lead glass. 42 samples belong to potash glass, and the 2 samples left belong to soda-alumina glass and potash-lead glass, respectively. Two subgroups, m-K-Al subgroup and m-K-Ca-Al subgroup, are found for potash glass. Only 4 potash glass samples belong to m-K-Ca-Al subgroup, the others are m-K-Al subgroup potash glass. Drawing, casting and cold-working techniques were applied during the process of glass making. Samples are colored by iron ions, or colored by iron and copper ions, except for one sample(SEAG-031) which is opacified by lead tin yellow. Combining with the glass types, shapes, traditions and distributions of Jue, the origins of the raw materials and productions centers for the glass Jue samples collected in Southeast Asia are discussed. The contacts between China and Southeast Asia/South Asia are also discussed. The results obtained in this paper shed some new lights on contacts between China and other countries along the Maritime Silk Road.

ancient glass Jue

Southeast Asia

chemical composition

glass-making process

provenance

Maritime Silk Road

As one of the main traditional jade types in ancient China, Jue(玦) originally refers to a kind of jade ring with a small segment cut of (Chen 1998), which is usually used to hang directly through the hole on the earlobe (Tang 2000; Yang 1997). Some people also think that it should be called ‘Er(珥)’, that is, the jade on the ear (Hua 2000). It can also be called ‘interrupted ring’ or ‘slit ring’(Bellina 2014; Tang et al. 1998). Jue appeared in East Asia in the early Neolithic Age about 9000 years ago (Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Raohe County Administration of Cultural Relics 1996; Zhong 2022), and then gradually became a widely distributed decoration. It was still popular during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and was one of the main traditional jade types in ancient China (Tang 2000). Most of jade Jue unearthed at Lingjiatan site in Anhui Province are tremolite-actinolite nephrite (Chen et al. 2020), while the ones found at three Neolithic sites in Zhejiang Province are fluorite, dickite, quartz, tremolite, serpentine, etc (Dong et al. 2017). In addition, a Faience Jue was unearthed from the cemetery of the Marquis of Jin dated to the late Western Zhou Dynasty (about 800 BCE) in Shaanxi Province (Wang 2019). There are also a large number of jade Jue and glass Jue unearthed from the sites in Southeast Asia during the Iron Age, such as the potash glass Jue unearthed at Phum Snay Iron Age Site in Cambodia (Song 2010), and the horned jade Jue unearthed in Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia (Gan 2008).

The Iron Age of Southeast Asia was beginning after the mid-first millennium BCE, through the first half of the first millennium CE (Higham et al. 2011a; Higham et al. 2011b). Glass Jue found in the Iron Age of Southeast Asia reflects the collision, exchange and integration between ancient Chinese culture and foreign cultures. The scientific disclosure of the multiple physical and chemical information of glass Jue is of great significance for the study of cultural transmission, trade exchanges, technological development and exchange among ancient societies. Previous research on the scientific analysis of glass Jue in Southeast Asia is very rare. In this study, 44 glass Jue collected from Southeast Asia were selected for analysis, by a variety of optical analysis techniques were applied, including X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography, optical microscopy, to determine the composition system, glass-making process, provenance and other relevant information, and to preliminary explore the cultural and technological exchanges between China, South Asia and Southeast Asia in the Iron Age of Southeast Asia.

1.1 Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF)

A TRACER 5g type energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer was used for chemical analysis. The equipment is developed by BRUKER Group in Germany. It can effectively detect light elements such as F and Na, and has the advantages of nondestructive, fast, low detection limit, high accuracy, etc. It has been widely used in industrial detection, geological exploration, food safety, scientific and technological archaeology and other fields. This equipment has pioneered the use of graphene material with a thickness of 1 μm as the window material for the X-ray detector, which has greatly improved the X-ray transmittance and the detection sensitivity of light elements (F, Na, etc.). At the same time, it is also equipped with a low vacuum pump, which further provides a reliable guarantee for accurate quantitative analysis of light elements. On the premise of ensuring the accuracy of the analysis results, the detection time of samples of different material types can be adjusted, and the adjustable range of single detection time is usually 30s~120s. In this study, the detection time for single analysis is set as 30s.

The linear calibration curves were employed for quantitative analysis. The glass standard samples suitable for XRF analysis were used, of which 22 were from Breitlander Eichproben und Labomaterial GmbH, Germany, and 30 were independently developed by the Shanghai Institute of Optics and fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The precision and accuracy of the equipment were evaluated using Corning Glass standard samples B, C, and D for 15 consecutive tests. The evaluation results are shown in Table 1. From Table 1, it can be seen that for components with a content higher than 1 wt%, the error value can be controlled within 15%, with only a few exceptions. The evaluation results indicate that the Tracer 5g XRF d has high precision and accuracy, fully meeting the testing requirements.

1.2 Optical coherence tomography (OCT)

The OCT system is a swept-source OCT system, which includes swept laser-source, interferometer unit (IVS-2000, Santec, Japan), probe unit and computer unit. The frequency sweep source is the HSL-2000 type frequency sweep laser-source produced by Santec, Japan. Its central wavelength is 1310 nm, the spectral peak width at half height is 110 nm, the frequency sweep frequency is 20 kHz, and the maximum laser power is 50 mW. The scanning range of OCT probe is 0~20 mm. The interferometer unit is based on the integrated Mach-Zeder interferometer system with delay lines. In silicate materials, the axial resolution reaches 53 μm. The axial detection depth reaches 5.3 mm, and the lateral resolution is < 5μm (Dong et al. 2020).

1.3 Optical microscope (OM)

We adopts KEYENCE VHX-5000, which is developed by KEYENCE Company in Japan. The system is equipped with two types of optical microscope lens, which are VH-Z20(×20~200) and VH-Z100R(×100~1000), can achieve 20× To 1000× Microscopic observation. At the same time, the system also has advanced functions such as auto-focusing, full-range focusing, depth synthesis, multi-angle observation, ultra-high resolution and high-definition display, three-dimensional synthesis, real-time observation and three-dimensional measurement.

1.4 Spectrophotometer

The spectrophotometer uses the NS 800 spectrophotometer produced by Shenzhen 3nH Company. This instrument uses the principle of combined LED precise spectrophotometer to separate the light at a certain wavelength interval, and then uses several groups of sensor arrays for sensitivity analysis. The NS800 spectrophotometer has higher accuracy and is very sensitive to any color. In addition to accurately measuring the Lab value and dE value, it can also directly display the spectral reflectance curve (400 – 700 nm).

1.5 Confocal Raman microspectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive phase structure analysis technique. In this experiment, the LabRAMXplo-RA confocal laser Raman spectrometer (LRS) produced by Horiba company in France was used for testing. The instrument adopts pinhole confocal technology, with a lateral spatial resolution better than 1μm. Vertical resolution better than 2μm. The Spectral resolution is ≤ 2cm^-1, and single crystal Si standard sample is used for calibration before testing. This instrument has been successfully applied in the analysis and study of ancient Chinese silicate cultural relics samples (Zhao et al. 2013). The excitation wavelength used in this experiment is 532nm, with a testing range of 100-2000cm^-1. A built-in grating of 1800gr · mm^-1 is used, with an integration time of 10s and two cycles.

The 44 glass Jue samples in this study are from Southeast Asia, collected in Iridescence Art Museum of Thailand(Fig. 1).

The information of the samples is shown in Table 2. The color is the surface color of samples tested by the spectrophotometer. The data is taken as the average of three tests on the same sample. In the LCH color space, the parameter L represents the brightness, with a value range of 0 (black) to 100 (white), and the parameter C represents the saturation, with a value range of 0 to 100. The parameter h represents the hue angle, and the value range is 0~360°. When h is 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°, it corresponds to red, yellow, green and blue respectively.

Diaphaneity is not easy to determine. The present paper makes use of only four degrees of diaphaneity: transparent, translucent, semi-translucent and opaque. Transparent glass allows the light to pass through so that the objects behind it can be clearly seen. Translucent glass permits the light to pass through but diffuses it so that the objects on its other side are not clearly visible. Opaque glass prevents light from travelling through. Semi-translucent glass presents the level of transparency between translucent and opaque, whereby a light beam glows from a most of the glass or at its edges.

They are divided into 11 groups according to their shapes (Table 3).

3.1 Weathering effects of ancient glass

Table 4 shows the chemical results of natural surface and polishing surface for some typical samples by EDXRF. The results show that weathering can cause the levels of contents for the glass matrix vary and has a significant impact on quantitative analysis. the chemical compositions of the weathered layer are different from that of the inner part. the levels of Na₂O and the K₂O for polishing surface are much higher than that of weathered surface. The Al₂O₃ content is slightly higher, while the CaO content become slightly lower after weathering in potash glass. SEAG-031 is a special sample with a high level of PbO. As the degree of weathering increases, the PbO content of SEAG-031 increases while the K₂O content decreases. (Liu et al. 2011; Dong et al. 2012) The quantitative analysis results of trace elements Rb, Sr, and Zr are relatively less affected by weathering.

In order to accurately judge the glass systems of those glass Jue samples, this article comprehensively evaluates the contents of Na₂O, MgO, Al₂O₃, CaO, K₂O and trace elements Rb, Sr.

3.2 Glass types

The chemical compositions of 44 glass Jue were analyzed by EDXRF and the results are shown in Table 5. Based on the contents of Na₂O, MgO, Al₂O₃, K₂O, CaO and trace elements Rb, Sr, Zr in the glass matrix, the glass samples analyzed in this article are divided into three types: potash glass, soda-alumina glass, and potash-lead glass.

Potash glass is the most in samples. Except for SEAG-031 and SEAG-036, the other 42 glass samples are all potash glass (Dussubieux 2021; Li et al. 2019). The major constituent of 42 potash glass Jue is SiO₂, and the content range is 66.96%~88.16%. The secondary component is K₂O. Except for SEAG-004, SEAG-009, SEAG-012, the mass fractions of K₂O in other potash glass Jue are all more than 10%. The K₂O and Na₂O contents of SEAG-004, SEAG-009 and SEAG-012 are still low after polishing because of the thick weathered layer. And since the mass fraction of K₂O is higher than the content of Na₂O and trace elements, it can be preliminarily inferred that they are potash glass.

According to the mass fractions of Al₂O₃ and CaO in 42 potash glasses and the contents of trace elements Rb and Sr (Liu et al. 2013) (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3), it can be seen that they are divided into two subgroups: the one group with high Al₂O₃ content and high Rb/Sr is m-K₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass (m-K-Al), a total of 38 pieces; the other group with similar mass fractions of Al₂O₃ and CaO and low Rb/Sr is m-K₂O-CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass (m-K-Ca-Al), with a total of 4 pieces. Figure 4 shows the ratio of TiO₂/Al₂O₃ and Al₂O₃/SiO₂ of glass Jue samples. The m-K-Al glasses are significantly centralized.

SEAG-036 is a mineral alkali soda-alumina glass (m-Na-Al) (Dussubieux and Walder 2022). The mass fraction of Na₂O in SEAG-036 is 16.56%, which suggests that Na₂O was used as the flux in this glass Jue. The Al₂O₃ mass fraction is 5.84% and the MgO mass fraction is 0.89%.

The SEAG-031 can be classed to the potash-lead glass (Liu et al. 2019). As shown in Table 5, only one sample, SEAG-031, was found to have high level content of PbO. SEAG-031 has a thick weathered layer on the surface, which can be divided into white and brown areas. The white areas are easy to form white powder. It can be seen from Table 4 that the brown part of the surface of SEAG-031 has the highest mass fraction of CaO and PbO, and the lowest mass fraction of SiO₂. The white area is suspected to be formed after the brown weathered layer falls off. Compared with the brown weathered layer, the mass fraction of SiO₂ is higher, and the mass fraction of CaO and PbO is lower. Removing the white weathered layer on the surface and analyzing its interior, it was found that the mass fraction of K₂O increased to 10.20% and the mass fraction of PbO decreased to 37.12%.

3.3 Glass-making techniques

The internal physical structure characteristics of glassware, including the morphology and distribution characteristics of inclusion particles, opacifier crystals, bubbles, etc., as well as the surface micro-morphology characteristics of glassware, have important indicative significance for the glass-making techniques. Based on the obtained internal physical structure characteristics and surface morphology characteristics of the objects, it is considered that there are three processing techniques used for those glass Jue samples: drawing, casting and cold-working.

The first technique method is drawing. Figure 5 shows the OM images and two-dimensional OCT images of SEAG-001, SEAG-002, and SEAG-003. It is obvious that the elongated large bubbles can be observed, and the long axis direction is parallel to the ring edge. It can be inferred that the drawing-process is used to draw the glass into Jue shape while it is hot formed.

Casting can make Jue of various shapes. The Jue with rectangular or trapezoidal section is almost made by casting. The casting method is to inject the molten glass into the mold and then mold it, so there will also be internal bubbles in the shape of long strips under pressure. Some of the samples are rough, with a lot of bubbles inside and pits on the surface. These pits are also bubbles formed when the surface is cooled. Figure 6 shows the OM images and two-dimensional OCT image of SEAG-004. A large number of bubbles and pits on the surface can be observed.

Cold-working techniques are applied to most of Jue samples. The processing of those Jue can be divided into two steps. The first step is the casting, and then the glasses are made into the shape of Jue through cold-working, such as polishing, cutting and drilling. The typical one is SEAG-016 (Fig. 7). SEAG-016 has a small number of elliptical bubbles inside and a smooth surface. And its gap section is very flat, even like being cut by a knife. It is likely to process the gap by cutting. The weathered white spots and flat surface also indicate that the surface may have been polished. And the same cutting and polishing process is also used for other Jue, including the Jue of ‘type 7’ and some of ‘type 8’ (listed in Table 3).

In terms of glass-coloring process, except for SEAG-031, the colors of glass samples are blue, green, or blue-green. From the perspective of coloring characteristics, most potash glasses are colored by iron ions and copper ions, a few are mainly colored by iron ions, and some samples also contain a small amount of tin. The mineral alkali soda-alumina glass SEAG-036 is mainly colored by iron ions. And the white-yellow opaque potash-lead glass SEAG-031 is mainly colored by lead and tin. Raman spectroscopy testing was conducted on the yellow crystal on the surface of SEAG-031, and strong characteristic peaks were obtained near 134cm^-1 and 266cm^-1 (Fig. 8), which is basically consistent with the Raman peak of lead tin yellow (PbSn1-xSixO3/PbSnO3) (Zhao 2014; Wang et al. 2001). During the processing of SEAG-031, lead stannate may have been added as an opacifier and colorant.

3.4 Possible provenance of glass Jue

Potash glass is one of the most widely distributed ancient glasses in Asia. Potash glass uses K₂O as a flux and is divided into three subgroups: low lime-high alumina-potash glass (m-K₂O-CaO-SiO₂glass/m-K-Ca), low alumina-high lime-potash glass (m-K₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass/m-K-Al) and a moderate lime and alumina-potash glass (m-K₂O-CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass/m-K-Ca-Al) (Liu et al. 2013; Dussubieux and Walder 2022). In this study, there are thirty-eight m-K₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glasses and four m-K₂O-CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glasses. The subgroup of m-K-Al has been found in the Dong Son Culture site in Vietnam, Khao Sam Kaeo in Thailand, northern Myanmar, and Guangxi in China. It is generally believed that there may be potash glass producing or making centers in India (north and south), Southeast Asia and the surrounding areas of Jiaozhi County in Han Dynasty China (Lankton and Dussubieux 2013; Li et al. 2019). Potash glass appeared from the 4^th century BCE to the 5^th century CE, and its number began to decline sharply in the 3^rd century CE, which seems to be replaced by soda-high alumina glass (Li et al. 2019). The m-K-Ca-Al and m-K-Al glass Jue analyzed in this paper may be made in Southeast Asia. The producing center was most probably in the Jiaozhi County(交趾郡) and its adjacent areas during Han Dynasty of China.

The mineral soda-high alumina or m-Na-Al glass is one of the most abundant glass types found in Southeast Asia and South Asia. This is a soda glass with high alumina concentrations (>5%). Its high concentration in India convinced Brill (1987) that this glass had been manufactured there (Dussubieux 2021). There are least 12 sub-groups of the mineral soda-alumina glass, namely m-Na-Al 1 to 12(Dussubieux and Walder 2022). The m-Na-Al 1 glass is the most abundant glass in South India and Sri Lanka from the 4^th century BCE to the 11^th century CE. Giribawa in northwestern Sri Lanka is an important glass-working place of m-Na-Al 1 glass. Some sites in Southern India and Mantai in Sri Lanka may have also been the glass-making places. The m-Na-Al 3 glass probably produced in northern India (Dussubieux 2021). And other known types of m-Na-Al glass appeared later than 9^th century CE and will not be discussed here. SEAG-036 belongs to the m-Na-Al glass (may be m-Na-Al 1 glass), of which the raw materials may come from South Asia, and then enter Southeast Asia for secondary processing.

The sample SEAG-031 is a traditional type of Jue in China. Its internal PbO mass fraction is 37.12% and K₂O mass fraction is 10.20%. There are some potash-lead glass beads with similar mineral composition excavateded from the Han tombs in Guangdong and Guangxi (Liu et al. 2019). During the Han Dynasty, Pb-Ba glass prevailed in China, while potash glass was produced in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in the south China (Gan et al. 2016). SEAG-031 was probably produced in Jiaozhou province (交州刺史部) including jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, Hepu and Rinan of the Han Dynasty.

Jue was widely used during the Shang and Zhou dynasties in ancient China(Sun 2022). During the Han Dynasty, the number of Jue decreased. At the same time, the number of Jue in Southeast Asia showed an increasing trend. Those Jue in Southeast Asia were mainly made of glass, some of them made of jade. Compared to China, the prevalence of Jue was lagged in Southeast Asia, and the Jue-shapes were very similar to some early jade Jue in inland China.

There are 11 types of shapes of the glass Jue samples (Table 2), most of which are similar to some shapes of traditional Chinese jade Jue. Type 1 Jue is characterized by blue translucent drawn glass (Fig. 9-a). A similar potash glass Jue was appeared at Phum Snay Iron Age Site in Cambodia (Fig. 9-b) (Song 2010). Similar prehistoric glass Jue ornaments (Fig. 9-c) are also found in the Pasak River basin of Thailand (Ramanatta 2014). Figure 9-d shows the Jue unearthed at Daxi Site in Chongqing, China (Tang et al. 1998). SEAG-006 (Type 3) may be a small drawn Jue. SEAG-014 (Type 6) is also a special Jue. Unlike other samples, it is asymmetrical. The late Neolithic animal-shaped Jue found in Hubei, China, is also asymmetrical (Fig. 10) (Tang et al. 1998), although its shape has some difference from SEAG-014. Many glass Jue ornaments were found in Sa Kaeo province in Thailand and Cambodia near the border of Thailand, with various shapes, including the type 1, type 3, type 6, type 8, and some other shapes (Fig. 11) (Ramanatta 2017).

The Type 2, 4, 7, 8, 10 and 11 are very traditional types of ancient Chinese jade Jue, which have been unearthed at many sites in China. The shape of jade Jue unearthed at Xinglongwa site (Tang et al. 1998) is somewhat similar to the Type 11 (Fig. 12). The stone Jue from the Western Zhou Dynasty unearthed in the Qijia Jue-Making Workshop (Sun 2022) is similar to the Type 8 (Fig. 13). There are ‘Type 2’ quartz Jue and ‘Type 11’ Jue unearthed from Shixia Site (Fig. 14) (Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology et al. 2014; Tang et al. 1998). And there are ‘Type 4’, Type 8’, and ‘Type 10’ late Neolithic Jue found on the site of Baojing Bay in Guangdong Province (Figure 15) (Tang et al. 1998). The Neolithic Jue at the Chahai site in Liaoning Province has the shape of Type 10 (Figure 16) (Tang et al. 1998). Similar quartz Jue have been found in many sites of Thailand, Vietnam and China (Tang et al. 1998; Ramanatta 2017).

The SEAG-025 is a four-horn Jue. The Jue with horns were widely distributed in South China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and other places around the South China Sea (Fig. 17 a-i). It lasted from the late Neolithic to the early Iron Age and Jue with horns were only seen in those regions (Gan 2008). Up to now, the well-shaped "山" shaped or "C" shaped jade Jue with horns were first unearthed in the late tombs of the third period of cultural relics at the Shixia Site (Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology et al. 2014) in northern Guangdong. Zhang Qianglu believed that the source of the jade Jue with horn came from the Shang culture in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which reflects the spread of the Xia and Shang etiquette culture in the Central Plains to Lingnan (Zhang 2019). The Jue with horns unearthed from the Shixia site is very similar in shape to SEAG-025 (Fig. 17 g). The earliest known four-horn Jue in Southeast Asia appeared in the middle or late period of Phung Nguyen culture in northern Vietnam. According to Nguyen Kim Dung, in the most representative middle stage of Phung Nguyen culture, a large number of Jue with different shapes and sizes were unearthed from the sites of Trang Kenh, Xom Ren, Phung Nguyen and Nghia Lap. The site of Trang Kenh Jade Workshop (about 3800-3300 years ago) is one of the largest and oldest jade workshops in northern Vietnam, and it’s the late Phung Nguyen Culture relics from the late Neolithic Age to the early Bronze Age. A large number of jade Jue with four horns have been unearthed in this place (Fig. 17 h) (Nguyen 1998). During this period, the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam showed a close link with the Pearl River estuary region and even the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Tang Chung (2004) believed that the Jue of the Phung Nguyen culture in northern Vietnam might come from Lingnan or even the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Zhang Qianglu (2019) tended to believe that the Jue culture of the late Neolithic Age in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was introduced into northern Vietnam through Lingnan, especially through the Pearl River estuary region.

The existence of glass Jue is likely to be the result of using glass to imitate the shape of jade. The lead-barium glass industry was set up in the middle of the Warring States Period (about 400-300BCE), most of which were used to imitate some shape of jade objects, such as Bi, ring, sword ornament, cicada and so on (Wang et al. 2022). In ancient China, glass was considered as a material to imitate jade. The mainstream of early Chinese glass art creation was about jade imitation, especially in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties. The shape and texture of glass in the Han Dynasty show the imitation of jade (An 2011). In the Han Dynasty, there were not only lead-barium glass, but also potash glass in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces (Gan et al. 2016). During that time, the link between Southeast Asia and the Han Dynasty was gradually becoming close up. According to the records of Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to unify Lingnan and strengthen the rule of the region, he used his military power to open up the Maritime Silk Road. In 111 BCE, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up three prefectures, Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen and Rinan, in the area of today's Vietnam and implemented direct administration. Xilin County in Guangxi province has unearthed the Western Han Dynasty Jade Jue (Fig. 18) and Han Dynasty bronze drums (Jiang 1982). Bronze-drum culture is an ancient national culture originating from southwest China. Some Studies have shown that its development and dissemination are inextricably linked with the Maritime Silk Road, and it is a physical evidence of cultural exchanges between China and Southeast Asian nations (Li, Ma and Tang 2022). The spread of Han Dynasty bronze mirrors also is an evidence--several Han cultural style bronze mirrors has been found in Southeast Asia (Fu 2021). A lot of potash glass was unearthed from the Han Tomb in Hepu, Guangxi, most of which were made locally (Li et al. 2019). A large number of jade Jue have also been unearthed in Yunnan Province from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty, for instance, the Batatai Site in Qujing City dated to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BCE), Lijiashan in Jiangchuan County dated to the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty, and Shizhaishan site in Jinning County of the Western Han Dynasty (200 BCE-9 CE)(Fig. 19) (Gu et al. 2005). Guangxi and Yunnan are the two Chinese provinces closest to the Indo-China Peninsula. The exchange between China and Southeast Asia is generally considered to have two ways: One is through Yunnan or Guangxi to the Indo-China Peninsula, the other is from the southeast coast of China and Taiwan through the South China Sea trade network to southeast Asia.

The Phum Lovea site in Cambodia found a Chinese coin, a large number of Indo-Pacific beads and other common burial objects in the Iron Age. This coin is very similar to a Xin Dynasty (9-23 CE) coin collected by the Fitzwilliam Museum in the United Kingdom, which proves that there was a commodity exchange channel between Cambodia and China at that time (O'Reilly and Shewan 2016). From the 5th century BCE to the 5th century CE, a relatively close maritime exchange network has been formed in Southeast Asia and its surrounding areas. Two kinds of green nephrite earrings appearing in Southeast Asia are made from Taiwan Hualian, and one of them called ‘lingling-o’ can be considered as a kind of variant of the Jue with horn. The shape of this Jue is very distinctive (Fig. 20). It appears in Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, many regions along the central coast of Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. The route of nephrite or nephrite products may be from Taiwan to the Philippines and Malaysia, through central Vietnam, and then to Cambodia and the Thai Peninsula. However, agate, carnelian and glass products were introduced into Taiwan from the opposite route, and to a certain extent led to the decline of Taiwan's jade-processing (Hung and Bellwood 2010). The Iron Age sites of nephrite earrings unearthed have some overlap with the Iron Age sites of potash glasses unearthed in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, which also shows that there is a wide trading network in Southeast Asia and there are many kinds of goods. Carter considered that at the beginning there was a pre-existing South China Sea exchange network, and at the end of the Iron Age, the trade with South Asia also began to strengthen, and the exchange network gradually expanded (Carter 2015). Two glass earrings and a large number of glass beads, including potash glass, mixed alkali glass and soda alumina glass, were found in a Iron Age tomb in the Samon Valley of central Myanmar. The research results of Laura et al. demonstrate that the local populations of Myanmar were indirectly participating in the glass exchange systems linking the Ganges River valley to central and peninsula Thailand, and southern Vietnam (Dussubieux and Pryce 2016). The glasses unearthed at two sites near the the Isthmus of Kra in the south of Myanmar is not quite consistent with the early or contemporaneous Thailand sites in the east of the Isthmus of Kra in terms of glass systems, and some of them are plant ash soda-lime glasses which might come from the West (Dussubieux et al. 2020). Arikamedu in India, Phu Khao Thong in Thailand and Aw Gyi in Myanmar all found glass fragments from the Mediterranean (Bellina et al. 2018). These evidences draw perhaps a more complex political and economic situation in Southeast Asia during that time. However, it cannot be denied that Southeast Asia play an important role in the Maritime Silk Road, linking eastward to China and other East Asian regions, and westward through South Asia to the Mediterranean region.

In this study, EDXRF, OCT and OM were used to conduct scientific analysis of 44 glass Jue objects collected in Southeast Asia. The experimental results show that the 44 glass samples include 42 potash glass, 1 mineral soda-alumina glass, and 1 potash-lead glass. The potash glass Jue could be classed into two subgroups: m-K₂O-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass (38 samples) and m-K₂O-CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass (4 samples). The samples are mainly colored by iron ions, and a small number of samples are colored with iron and copper ions. Lead stannate was likely added as an opacifier and colorant in the the potash-lead glass Jue SEAG-031. Most of glass Jue adopts the casting process, and some samples use the cold-working process on the basis of the casting process. Others adopt the drawing process. The shape of glass Jue is influenced by the Chinese jade Jue culture. The raw material of the mineral soda-alumina glass is likely to be imported from South Asia. The potash-lead glass Jue may be affected by the lead glass-making technology of the Han Dynasty in China. The potash glass might be produced locally in Southeast Asia. This study provides useful information on the characteristics of glass-making in Southeast Asia and the trade and cultural exchanges with South Asia and China, and is helpful to further study the glass trade and development along the Maritime Silk Road.

Funding: This research was funded by the 2021 National Social Science Foundation Major Project "Research on Archaeological Relics and Related Historical Documents along the Han Dynasty Maritime Silk Road" (21&ZD235).

Competing Interest: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Author Contribution: JW.H. wrote the main manuscript text, and prepared all figures and tables. QH.L., JQ.D., S.L. and YM.Y. provided revisions and suggestions in manuscript writing and Experiments. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Tables 1 to 5 are available in the Supplementary Files section.

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Scientific research on glass Jue found in the Iron Age of Southeast Asia and its indications for contacts with China

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Abstract

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Introduction

1 Analytical Techniques

2 Samples

3 Analysis results

4 Cultural Exchanges between China and Southeast Asia

5 Conclusion

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References

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Supplementary Files

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