Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University publishes research on Fayence beads, revealing cultural interactions in the Yanyuan area.

Recently, the Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, and the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, among others, published a research paper in the international journal Archaeometry, titled "Faience beads excavated from Laolongtou cemetery, Yanyuan: new evidence of the cultural exchange between the south-western and north-western parts of China." This study explores the faience beads unearthed from the Laolongtou cemetery in Yanyuan, Sichuan, from the perspectives of technology and cultural exchange. Professor Li Haichao from the Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, is the corresponding author, and Liu Yunling, a master's student from the School of Archaeology and Museology, Sichuan University, is the first author. Co-authors also include Zhou Zhiqing, Deputy Director of the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Tian Jianbo, Associate Researcher, and Hao Xiaoxiao, a postdoctoral fellow from the School of History, Wuhan University.

This research conducted microscopic observation, energy spectrum detection, and other analyses on more than ten Warring States period faience beads unearthed from the fourth excavation of the Laolongtou cemetery in Yanyuan, providing new clues and perspectives for exploring the external exchanges in the Yanyuan area of Sichuan, represented by the Laolongtou cemetery.

Based on the analysis results, the study basically determined that most of the unearthed samples belong to two major categories: lead-barium faience and high-potassium faience. Another sample is sodium-potassium faience. In terms of manufacturing technology, microscopic image analysis shows that the samples were made using a core-forming process. In addition, two glazing methods were identified: embedded glazing and efflorescence glazing.

Using principal component analysis to reduce the dimensionality and group the obtained sample energy spectrum data and the energy spectrum data of faience beads in previous studies, it was found that the samples unearthed from the Laolongtou cemetery are more closely related to the faience beads unearthed from Xinfeng in Shaanxi, Zhaitouhe in northern Shaanxi, and the Shiye Hotel cemetery in Chengdu. This points to the possibility that the Yanyuan area represented by the Laolongtou cemetery is related to the northwest and Sichuan regions of China. This result is also consistent with the records in relevant literature.

In addition, by comparing bronze branch-shaped objects, bronze swords, bronze spears, bronze axes, and other artifacts unearthed from Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Yunnan, and the Laolongtou cemetery, the study believes that the bronzes unearthed from the Laolongtou cemetery also show that the Yanyuan area has certain connections with the Northwest, Sichuan-Chongqing, Yunnan, and even Southeast Asia. It is further believed that the Yanyuan area represented by the Laolongtou cemetery may have been a hub connecting Southwest, Northwest, and even Southeast Asia during the Warring States period.