PANG Xiaoxia...........................................................76 

On the turquoise bracelet of the Taosi culture 

Abstract：Turquoise wristlets were unearthed from 8 tombs in the Taosi Cemetery and 2 tombs in Xiajin Cemetery, which are very distinctive. These turquoise wristlets are made of many turquoise flakes that are glued on the planar organic substrate. The turquoise flakes are irregular in shape and carefully assembled into a rectangle shape with neat edges, while no pattern on the whole. In addition to being decorative, turquoise wristlet is also an identity symbol, but not commonly employed. Turquoise inlaying technology may have originated in the middle and late Dawenkou culture, which developed in the south of Shanxi of the Taosi culture. However, it does not rule out the possibility that the planar inlaying technique of turquoise in the Longshan Era in northwest China may have originated in southern Shanxi. As far as the turquoise wristlets are concerned, its popularity is only in the Longshan Era. It may extend to the Erlitou period, and it is very rare in the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

 

DU Jinpeng................................................................87 

On the Erlitou turquoise earrings 

Abstract：Turquoise earrings were popular in the Erlitou culture. Bead decorations are accord with liang in oracle-bone inscriptions, lang in bronze inscriptions. The thread to bind turquoise beads should be er in oracle-bone inscriptions. State-controlled turquoise workshop was in existent at Erlitou. The tradition of turquoise earrings emerged in the Neolithic age and peaked during the Erlitou period, the legacy of which was preserved in the Shang Dynasty.

 

CHEN Dongchuan....................................................97 

A new interpretation of the motifs on the bronze architectural decorations 

Abstract： According to the latest archaeological discovery, the original “Zhoubo tomb” should be a rammed-earth foundation of the Shang Dynasty. A large number of Shang Dynasty architectural relics were found on the top of this 12-meter-high rammed earth platform, located in the southwest of Xiaoshuangqiao village. Three bronze architectural decorations were discovered here in 1989. The ornamentation of these bronze architectural components not only accords with the ornamentation characteristics of the early and middle Shang Dynasty，but also reflects the depiction of the ancients of celestial phenomena, such as the Hengshi Sanxing in the White Tiger and the Xinxiu Sanxing in the Green Dragon.The astronomical elements in the ornamentation of bronze building components at the Xiaoshuangqiao site of the Shang Dynasty indicate that this site is unlikely to be a common site of the Shang Dynasty, and may have been the capital.

XU Longguo..........................................................104 

On the new development of minting research of the Western Han Dynasty and CHEN Zhi' s contribution 

Abstract：The author reviews the academic achievements of CHEN Zhi in the research of money-minting in the Western Han Dynasty, and summarizes the latest progress in this field. From the 1950s, when CHEN Zhi studied the money-minting in the Han Dynasty to today, the academic circle has gone through 70 years of research in this field. Every academic progress has benefited from the emergence of new materials and the application of new methods, as well as researchers’keen academic insight and profound literature foundation. CHEN Zhi was a multi-faceted academic master. He used the collected cultural relics to introduce the “double evidence method”into the study of handicraft industry and coins minting of the Qin and Han dynasties,“integrating literature and archaeology into one,”broadening the research field of the history of the Qin and Han Dynasties and laying a foundation for the subsequent handicraft archaeology research.

 

TAN Shuqin............................................................112 

On the fengzeng stela unearthed from Henan 

Abstract：The fengzeng stela was rooted in the fengzeng system. It consisted of endowing titles and giving the stela, which made an important part of the state ritual ceremony and the most distinguished award for officials. The fengzeng officials could be classified into two types, which coexisted in numerous epitaphs. The author has been investigating the fengzeng stela for years. And this article focuses on those of the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties unearthed in Henan.

 

LI Man et al. ...........................................................117 

An technological analysis of the metal artifacts unearthed from burial No. 2 of the Shuyuanjie cemetery of the Shang elites in Zhengzhou Shang City site 

Abstract： Using portable X-ray flaw detectors, portable XRF, bench top XRF, ultra-depth three-dimensional video microscopes, bench top scanning electron microscopy spectroscopy and other nondestructive analysis methods, the metal artifacts excavated from tomb No. 2 of the Shang-Dynasty Cemetery on the Shuyuan Street of the Zhengzhou Shang City were scientifically analyzed. The alloy ratios and production processes of bronze and gold in the Middle Shang period were explored.

 

LI Man et al. ..........................................................129 

An technological analysis of the jade artifacts unearthed from burial No. 2 of the Shuyuanjie cemetery of the Shang elites in Zhengzhou Shang City site 

Abstract：Using laser confocal micro Raman spectrometer, ultra depth of field 3D video microscope and other non-destructive analysis methods, the authors analyze the physical phase and trace of the jade artifacts unearthed from burial No. 2 of the Shang Dynasty cemetery on the Shuyuan Street of the Zhengzhou Shang City. They also explore sacrificial ceremonies, production technology, jade material selection and other issues of the buried jade artifacts of high elites in the Middle Shang Dynasty.

 

MIAO Lijuan..........................................................137 

A new interpretation of the oracle bone records wangting

Abstract：The records wangting in the oracle-bone inscriptions were most frequent in the middle and late Wuding reign. It was previously argued to be a hearing decease of the Shang king. The author argues it indicates acousma, which was not treated as a disease in the Shang period, but taken seriously as a symbol of misfortune.