Social Status and Recycling in Bronze Age China
The inside of Fu Hao’s tomb, which contained over 1.6 tons of copper, as well as human and dog sacrifices.
A cast bronze owl, from the tomb of Fu Hao.
An oracle bone- the scapula of an ox, showing the earliest form of Chinese writing
Social Status and Recycling in Bronze Age China
Read by Dr Victoria Sainsbury
What does recycling have to do with social standing in Bronze Age China? Dr Victoria Sainsbury discusses the recent work of the FLAME team, led by Dr Ray Liu, on the metal work at Anyang, and how powerful people controlled how metal moved through society.
Further reading:
Liu, R., Pollard, A.M., Cao, Q., Liu, C., Sainsbury, V., Howarth, P., Bray, P., Huan, L., Yao, B., Fu, Y. and Tang, J., 2020. Social hierarchy and the choice of metal recycling at Anyang, the last capital of Bronze Age Shang China. Scientific reports, 10(1), pp.1-9.
Listent to the podcast here: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/social-status-and-recycling-bronze-age-china
Transcript:
