title: Origin of the mysterious Yin-Shang bronzes in China indicated by lead isotopes.
abstract: Fine Yin-Shang bronzes containing lead with puzzlingly highly radiogenic isotopic compositions appeared suddenly in the alluvial plain of the Yellow River around 1400 BC. The Tongkuangyu copper deposit in central China is known to have lead isotopic compositions even more radiogenic and scattered than those of the Yin-Shang bronzes. Most of the Yin-Shang bronzes are tin-copper alloys with high lead contents. The low lead and tin concentrations, together with the less radiogenic lead isotopes of bronzes in an ancient smelting site nearby, however, exclude Tongkuangyu as the sole supplier of the Yin-Shang bronzes. Interestingly, tin ingots/prills and bronzes found in Africa also have highly radiogenic lead isotopes, but it remains mysterious as to how such African bronzes may have been transported to China. Nevertheless, these African bronzes are the only bronzes outside China so far reported that have lead isotopes similar to those of the Yin-Shang bronzes. All these radiogenic lead isotopes plot along ~2.0-2.5 Ga isochron lines, implying that deposits around Archean cratons are the most likely candidates for the sources. African cratons along the Nile and even micro-cratons in the Sahara desert may have similar lead signatures. These places were probably accessible by ancient civilizations, and thus are the most favorable suppliers of the bronzes.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.|CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101 China.
authors.forename: Wei-dong
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Li-peng
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Cong-ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Yu-hang
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Zartman
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Zhao-feng
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Zhang