Origin and transfer of heat treated high tin bronze making

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24300300
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cultural property science
• Research Institution: University of Toyama
• Principal Investigator: Nagae Takekazu 富山大学, 芸術文化学部, 教授 (60443420)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 三船 温尚 富山大学, 芸術文化学部, 教授 (20181969)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SHIMIZU Yasuji 奈良県立橿原考古学研究所, 埋蔵文化財部, 指導研究員 (90250381) ; AOYAGI Taisuke 奈良県立橿原考古学研究所, 調査部調査課, 総括研究員 (60270774) ; UESUGI Akinori 関西大学, 研究推進部, 非常勤研究員 (20455231) ; NISHIAKI Yoshihiro 東京大学, 総合研究博物館, 教授 (70256197) ; TAGAI Tokuhei 東京大学, 総合研究博物館, 名誉教授 (40011738)
• Research Collaborator: Ranganathan Srinivasa National Institute of Advanced studies ; Shinde Vasant Deccan college
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 熱処理型高錫青銅 / インド / 金属組織 / 焼入れ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Heat treatable high tin bronze wares containing more than 15% tin were made by casting or hot forging and subsequent quenching. These techniques were introduced into ancient Japan from Asian continent in the Kofun period. They are no longer in use in Japan but are still in use in some Asian countries as traditional craft techniques. In order to find out an origin of fabrication techniques of heat treatable high tin bronze and their transfer route to Japan, we focused on Indian metal antiquities. More than 250 samples were analyzed. The earliest heat treatable high tin bronze wares analyzed are copper bowls which were excavated at Megalith sites in India. They are presumed to have been fabricated in the first half of the 1st millennium BC.

Free Research Field

文化財科学