Hello,
A short, but interesting article on Discovery News concerning where the figures were actually made... from the type of pollen found in the clay.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/01/29/t...w01-101-ae-0001
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Pollen Reveals Terracotta Army Origins
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Jan. 29, 2007 — China’s Terracotta Army has mystified scholars since the 8,099 clay warriors and horses were first discovered in Emperor Qin Shihuang’s mausoleum in 1974. The figures, meant to protect the emperor in the afterlife, were buried with him around 210-209 B.C.
At least one mystery about the imposing faux army recently was solved. It is now known that the horses and warriors were constructed in different locations, based on analysis of pollen found in fragments of terracotta that were collected from the clay figures.
The findings have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
"When the plants were flowering in the time of the Qin Dynasty 2000 years ago, the pollen flew in the air and fell in the clay, even if the pollen could not be seen with the naked eye," lead author Ya-Qin Hu told Discovery News.
Hu, a scientist in the Institute of Botany at Beijing’s Chinese Academy of Sciences, and colleagues crushed the collected terracotta fragments, washed them and performed gravity separation. The resulting organic residue was mounted in glycerol and observed under a powerful microscope.
Using these methods, the researchers identified and recovered 32 different types of pollen. The pollen found in the terracotta warrior sample was mostly from herbaceous plants, such as members of the mustard and cabbage family, the genus of plants that includes sagebrush and wormwood, and the family of flowering plants that includes quinoa, spinach, beets and chard.
The pollen detected in the terracotta horse sample, however, mostly came from trees, such as pine, kamala and ginkgo.
Hu explained that pollen in clay often is destroyed after objects are fired. Some granules survived in the terracotta, however, because the figures appear to have been fired at inconsistent temperatures with parts of the objects —especially thicker portions — not undergoing complete firing.
Based on the pollen differences, the researchers conclude that the horses were produced near the mausoleum, while the warriors were made at an as-of-yet unknown site away from the region.
The horses are large (over 6 feet long) and heavy (nearly 441 pounds) compared to the warriors, which weigh around 330 pounds. The horses also are more delicate, given their relatively fragile legs. The scientists therefore theorize that whomever planned the Terracotta Army’s construction determined it would be easier to have the horses built closer to the destination site to minimize transport.
Michael Nylan is a professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in early Chinese history.
Nylan told Discovery News that because scientific access to the terracotta figures is difficult, it would be hard at present to verify the findings.
Pollen analysis in recent years, however, has led to some remarkable discoveries, including solving murder cases and determining the origins of other artwork.
Hu said, "We believe this work may open a new window for archaeologists to consider the possibility of finding pollen in ancient terracotta or pottery, as the pollen may tell us some stories that we want to know, but that are still unknown."
Kimchee
Full Version: Pollen Reveals Terracotta Army Origins
Wow, this is interesting. Thanks for the article. I wounder if they could use pollen to date artifacts?
QUOTE(thirdgumi @ Jan 29 2007, 01:40 PM) [snapback]4873921[/snapback]
Wow, this is interesting. Thanks for the article. I wounder if they could use pollen to date artifacts?
Pollen is organic matter, and I'm sure they'd be able to carbon date it, if they had enough of it, I suppose... what I'm amazed at is that how do they know what was blooming when and where so long ago? I would think that climate changes would change the flora of the area. Or perhaps if they had pollen from trees on the clay horses, how did they know it would be from nearby when there are (or until recently) all farms in the area.
Very interesting indeed. Kimchee
Carbon dating pollen wouldn't be likely since they typically need to destroy a portion of an item to get a large enough sample (a slice for example). If the pollen was invisible to the naked eye then the form, and identity of the plant, could be seen by magnification but no sample of C14 is availible.
Ceramics can be tested by Thermoluminescence (TL testing) which gives a ball park figure in a similar way to C14.
It means that an item can be shown to be 'old' and by style the dating can be fixed more certainly. Tang or Han ceramics for instance can be roughly dated to the centuries that are consistent with an items style.
It is supposedly possible to fake a result using X-rays, but how easily the X-ray tampering can place an artificially old date on a ceramic (and be the correct # centuries) means I don't know how signifigant it is as a way of faking dates.
I have heard of people producing fake tests by crooked laboratories than I have of the X-rays being used to fake them.
Apparently an x-ray dose did accidentely make a new ceramic come up with a pre-historic dating, but that wouldnt be much good if somebody wanted to fake a Tang item.
Kind of irrelevent, but I thought I would mention this. It would only matter for unprovenanced items, or those not from excavations.
The testing of ceramics & How TL works;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoluminescence
Ceramics can be tested by Thermoluminescence (TL testing) which gives a ball park figure in a similar way to C14.
It means that an item can be shown to be 'old' and by style the dating can be fixed more certainly. Tang or Han ceramics for instance can be roughly dated to the centuries that are consistent with an items style.
It is supposedly possible to fake a result using X-rays, but how easily the X-ray tampering can place an artificially old date on a ceramic (and be the correct # centuries) means I don't know how signifigant it is as a way of faking dates.
I have heard of people producing fake tests by crooked laboratories than I have of the X-rays being used to fake them.
Apparently an x-ray dose did accidentely make a new ceramic come up with a pre-historic dating, but that wouldnt be much good if somebody wanted to fake a Tang item.
Kind of irrelevent, but I thought I would mention this. It would only matter for unprovenanced items, or those not from excavations.
The testing of ceramics & How TL works;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoluminescence
QUOTE
Thermoluminescence (TL) dating is the determination by means of measuring the accumulated radiation dose of the time elapsed since material containing crystalline minerals was either heated (lava, ceramics) or exposed to sunlight (sediments). As the material is heated during measurements, a weak light signal, the thermoluminescence, proportional to the radiation dose is produced....
.....Thermoluminescence dating presupposes a "zeroing" event in the history of the material, either heating (in the case of pottery or lava) or exposure to sunlight (in the case of sediments), that removes the pre-existing trapped electrons. Therefore, at that point the thermoluminescence signal is zero. As time goes on, the ionizing radiation field around the material causes the trapped electrons to accumulate. In the laboratory, the accumulated radiation dose can be measured, but this by itself is insufficient to determine the time since the zeroing event. The radiation dose rate - the dose accumulated per year-must be determined first. This is commonly done by measurement of the alpha radioactivity (the uranium and thorium content) and the potassium content (K-40 is a beta and gamma emitter) of the sample material. Often the gamma radiation field at the position of the sample material is measured, or it may be calculated from the alpha radioactivity and potassium content of the sample environment, and the cosmic ray dose is added in. Once all components of the radiation field are determined, the accumulated dose from the thermoluminescence measurements is divided by the dose accumulating each year, to obtain the years since the zeroing event.
Thermoluminescence dating is used for material where radiocarbon dating is not available, like sediments. Its use is now common in the authentication of old ceramic wares, for which it gives the approximate date of the last firing.
.....Thermoluminescence dating presupposes a "zeroing" event in the history of the material, either heating (in the case of pottery or lava) or exposure to sunlight (in the case of sediments), that removes the pre-existing trapped electrons. Therefore, at that point the thermoluminescence signal is zero. As time goes on, the ionizing radiation field around the material causes the trapped electrons to accumulate. In the laboratory, the accumulated radiation dose can be measured, but this by itself is insufficient to determine the time since the zeroing event. The radiation dose rate - the dose accumulated per year-must be determined first. This is commonly done by measurement of the alpha radioactivity (the uranium and thorium content) and the potassium content (K-40 is a beta and gamma emitter) of the sample material. Often the gamma radiation field at the position of the sample material is measured, or it may be calculated from the alpha radioactivity and potassium content of the sample environment, and the cosmic ray dose is added in. Once all components of the radiation field are determined, the accumulated dose from the thermoluminescence measurements is divided by the dose accumulating each year, to obtain the years since the zeroing event.
Thermoluminescence dating is used for material where radiocarbon dating is not available, like sediments. Its use is now common in the authentication of old ceramic wares, for which it gives the approximate date of the last firing.
Thanks Kenneth for your explaination.
Maybe they did a study on the earth layers around China to determine what kind of plantes existed in each regions and in each period.
QUOTE
Or perhaps if they had pollen from trees on the clay horses, how did they know it would be from nearby when there are (or until recently) all farms in the area.
Maybe they did a study on the earth layers around China to determine what kind of plantes existed in each regions and in each period.
Thank you, Kenneth for your science lesson... I never really knew how the procedure was done. I just thought the original news article was interesting in the fact that they found out a little more about the logistics of actually making the ceramic figures for Qin Shi Huang's tomb.
It's amazing how something as small as pollen has solved many mysteries, including cases in archeology or even present-day murder cases, etc. If you visit the link I provided, they do show pictures of the actual pollen.
Kimchee
PS Yes, thirdgumi, you're right, I'm sure... and there are probably written records of what the land was like at that time, too.
It's amazing how something as small as pollen has solved many mysteries, including cases in archeology or even present-day murder cases, etc. If you visit the link I provided, they do show pictures of the actual pollen.
Kimchee
PS Yes, thirdgumi, you're right, I'm sure... and there are probably written records of what the land was like at that time, too.
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