It does however reveal an aspect of ancient Chinese burials which bears discussion.
This was a topic on Antiquities_Science yahoogroup and helps illuminate a little about the preparation of objects for the tomb.
While silk and textile coverings can be observed on tomb artefacts the coating of objects in red pigment seems to have been important too, as in tomb wall timbers and internal and external coffins.
The 'dying' of silk with this pigment seems to be chemically improbable but the discussion here expands on the news snippet into something a bit more concrete.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese archaeologists make ground-breaking textile discovery in
2,500-year-old tomb
(People's Daily)
http://tinyurl.com/yrnvqq
or
http://www.archaeologynews.org/link.asp?ID...eologists\
%20make%20ground-breaking%20textile%20discovery%20in%20...
QUOTE
Chinese archaeologists have found textiles in a mysterious tomb dating
back nearly 2,500 years in eastern Jiangxi Province, the oldest to be
discovered in China's history.
The textiles, which are well-preserved and feature stunning dyeing and
weaving technologies, will rewrite the history of China's textile
industry, says Wang Yarong, an archaeologist who has been following
the findings in the textile sector for more than three decades.
"Chinese anthropologists suspect the textile industry burgeoned in
distant periods of history and this is the first piece of concrete
evidence to support their hypothesis," she said.
Wang and her colleagues found more than 20 pieces of fine silk, flax
and cotton cloth in 22 of a total 47 coffins unearthed from the tomb
in Lijia village of Jing'an county.
"Most of them are fine fabrics and the largest piece is 130 cm long,
52 cm wide and woven with complicated techniques," said Wang, a
researcher with the textiles preservation center of the Beijing-based
Capital Museum.
A Peking University professor found with infrared devices that a piece
of cotton cloth was partly red and partly black. "It was dyed red with
vermilion," said Professor Zhang Xiaomei.
Historical records show the Arabians were able to produce vermilion in
the eighth century and the Europeans learned the methods from them in
the 17th century.
Yet the tomb where these fabrics were found is believed to date back
to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-221 B.C.).
The tomb, 16 meters long, 11.5 meters wide and three meters deep, was
found last December and the excavation was completed only last week.
It contained the largest group of coffins ever discovered in a single
tomb and its excavation was dubbed "the most important archeological
project of the year" by cultural experts and the Chinese media.
By Monday, experts had unearthed more than 200 heritage pieces from
the tomb, including copperware, jade, gold and handicrafts made from
bamboo: a well-preserved fan 37 cm long and 25 cm wide and a bamboo
mat 180 cm long and 80 cm wide.
Seven of the coffins contained human skeletons, four of which were
identified as healthy females aged around 20, said Wei Dong, an
archaeologist from northeast China's Jilin University.
Wei and other members of the research team assumed the four young
women were maids who had been buried alive in sacrifice alongside a
dead aristocrat, as was a centuries-old custom in ancient China.
Five other coffins contained bodily tissues, which scientists have
identified as human brains that have shrunk to the size of a fist but
retained their original structure.
"We're yet to conduct a DNA analysis to see whether these people were
genetically linked to one another," said Huang Jinglue, head of the
archaeological team.
Experts say the discovery is unique because the skeletons had been
preserved well in an area where the soil was acidic and unsuited to
the preservation of human bodies.
back nearly 2,500 years in eastern Jiangxi Province, the oldest to be
discovered in China's history.
The textiles, which are well-preserved and feature stunning dyeing and
weaving technologies, will rewrite the history of China's textile
industry, says Wang Yarong, an archaeologist who has been following
the findings in the textile sector for more than three decades.
"Chinese anthropologists suspect the textile industry burgeoned in
distant periods of history and this is the first piece of concrete
evidence to support their hypothesis," she said.
Wang and her colleagues found more than 20 pieces of fine silk, flax
and cotton cloth in 22 of a total 47 coffins unearthed from the tomb
in Lijia village of Jing'an county.
"Most of them are fine fabrics and the largest piece is 130 cm long,
52 cm wide and woven with complicated techniques," said Wang, a
researcher with the textiles preservation center of the Beijing-based
Capital Museum.
A Peking University professor found with infrared devices that a piece
of cotton cloth was partly red and partly black. "It was dyed red with
vermilion," said Professor Zhang Xiaomei.
Historical records show the Arabians were able to produce vermilion in
the eighth century and the Europeans learned the methods from them in
the 17th century.
Yet the tomb where these fabrics were found is believed to date back
to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-221 B.C.).
The tomb, 16 meters long, 11.5 meters wide and three meters deep, was
found last December and the excavation was completed only last week.
It contained the largest group of coffins ever discovered in a single
tomb and its excavation was dubbed "the most important archeological
project of the year" by cultural experts and the Chinese media.
By Monday, experts had unearthed more than 200 heritage pieces from
the tomb, including copperware, jade, gold and handicrafts made from
bamboo: a well-preserved fan 37 cm long and 25 cm wide and a bamboo
mat 180 cm long and 80 cm wide.
Seven of the coffins contained human skeletons, four of which were
identified as healthy females aged around 20, said Wei Dong, an
archaeologist from northeast China's Jilin University.
Wei and other members of the research team assumed the four young
women were maids who had been buried alive in sacrifice alongside a
dead aristocrat, as was a centuries-old custom in ancient China.
Five other coffins contained bodily tissues, which scientists have
identified as human brains that have shrunk to the size of a fist but
retained their original structure.
"We're yet to conduct a DNA analysis to see whether these people were
genetically linked to one another," said Huang Jinglue, head of the
archaeological team.
Experts say the discovery is unique because the skeletons had been
preserved well in an area where the soil was acidic and unsuited to
the preservation of human bodies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: [Antiquities_Science] Chinese archaeologists make ground-breaking textile discovery in 2,500-year-old
Hi, Jim/List
Do you have read if there is more about such vermillion?
Ther only one I know is cinnabar. Yes, arabas could find how to produce them in eight century (I think that they learned how to produce it when the conquered today Spain and place hand in Almaden (the mine, in arab), with its resources of mercury.
But cinnabar was found in nature, no need to produce it...Romans used it for cosmetic purposes, and probably other ancient peoples before them
Curiously again, vermillion turns black with light exposure.
So that lets that the fabrics were probably stained (not a true dyeieng with a pigment) only red with a pigment.
Done that cinnabar is highly toxic, probably this fabrics were only intended for funerary proposits.
And the dyeing could provide a reason why the fabrics resists till today: mercury is so poisonous that all the microorganisms that could degrade the fabric simply died.....
Sometimes non specialized newspapers say some things that are at least curious....
But if the fabrics could be seen, then it would be a good thing...I fear that it would be a 1/1 weawing.....Anyway, interesting also culturally
Thanks for the article, Jim
Lluís
-------------------------------------
(Me)
That's a quite valid point. If it -was- cinnabar then it was added to tomb objects on the surface, just like a red ochre.
You can see red even on very ancient jades which is quite distinct to the cemented soil, and even some bronze coins I have are coated in some sort of red ochre (now that I realise it could be nastier stuff than ochre I will avoid handling them).
I read this article with a sceptical mind, but thought for once it was just factual.
I wonder if it another case of 'first' & 'earliest' announced without a little qualification over what it actually is.
Come to think of it the "Chinese did this in 500BC and everyone else a thousand years later' is all pretty typical stuff.
Now I check a little on vermillion I see it is probably a cinnabar paste.
Not exactly space age stuff to find it on a tomb object anyway, silk or not.
The actual surviving of the silk for study would be more remarkable then.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Melanie Roy <melroy1654@yahoo.com> ha scritto: Hello All,
There have been some interesting comments about the use of cinnabar
in tombs in ancient China, dating as far back as the Shang. In some
regions, it appears that powdered cinnabar pigment was occasionally
scattered across objects in the tomb or inside the coffin.
One article I found online listed some contents of excavated graves
in the cemetery of T'ao-ssu. In both medium and large graves, some
coffins were found with "cinnabar powder spread inside"
(http://bruceowen.com/worldprehist/EMC9f20.htm, printed page 6 of 13).
Another source noted the use of cinnabar coatings on some jade
artifacts, and went on to mention the use of sprinkled cinnabar in
tombs in north China (Robert Bagley ed., "Ancient Sichuan: Treasures
from a Lost Civilization". Seattle: Seattle Art Museum and Princeton
UP; 2001, p 157.)
I would be interested to hear of more sources of information on this
topic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by: "Roger Seganti" ilaroger@yahoo.it ilaroger
Tue Aug 21, 2007 11:57 am (PST)
Dear Melanie
Thanks, the comma got stuck on your link
Should work now,
http://tinyurl.com/28ed7a
or
http://www.bruceowen.com/worldprehist/EMC9f20.doc
can help with this reference on the pigment cinnabar from this online source on pigments.
http://www.sewanee.edu/chem/Chem&Art/D...ents/vermillion
“The name "vermillion" derives from the Latin word vermes, which originally referred to the kermes insect that was used in the preparation of red dye in ancient Rome. Vermillion is closely related to cinnabar, the difference being that "cinnabar" is the term reserved for naturally occurring mercuric sulfide (HgS). Historically the two terms were used interchangeably to designate either the natural or manufactured product. This duality in terminology may have been caused by the fact that the characteristics of the natural and artificially-produced pigments are almost identical.”
Vermillion is one of the most opaque pigments used by artists; its lengthy history spans several continents and eras. Since prehistoric times, vermillion has been highly valued by the Chinese and has been used not only in works of art, such as scroll paintings, but in burials and in alchemy experiments as well. Although it does not appear in the art of ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia, cinnabar was known by the Romans. Pliny recorded that it was so expensive that the government fixed its price.”
Pliny gives this price for cinnabaris in Roman times.
“The price of genuine cinnabaris is fifty sesterces per pound”
Reference : http://tinyurl.com/2bhk4x
And this explanation of the pigment;
http://tinyurl.com/266kos
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(Me)
In the attached journal section of Antiquities_Science is an article on "P'an-lung-ch'eng; A Shang city in Hubei"
It mentions the practice clearly on page 11 where it discusses excavated Shang burials and says that in all but one there were traces of wooden coffins with cinnabar above, below, and on all sides.
About the Xinhua article that announced this as a textile pigment since it was found on silks in a tomb, and another 'worlds earliest' being found China, it appears to be a typically Xinhua crossed wire in the reporting of archaeology.
Still, it made me take a little more notice of the practice and just how wide-spread and early it occured {at least Shang} in the discussions on this group.