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A Study of Seima-Turbino Bronze Artifacts Discovered in China
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.1.064-073
Abstract
We describe Seima-Turbino artifacts from museum collections and sites in China—two spearheads from the Gansu Provincial Museum and two daggers from the Tianshui Museum. The composition of metal was analyzed. Spearheads are made of copper with minor additions, and daggers are made of bronze. The shape of the latter is identical to that of the specimens from Sopka-2/4B. Their type and technology suggests that they were not made by people of the Qijia culture, but were imported by the Seima-Turbino people. Typology and chronology of daggers and spearheads from China are examined. Parallels with those from Western Siberia are listed. We conclude that ties between the cultures of Qijia and Seima-Turbino date to 2200–2000 BC, and the origin of metallurgy in China was intrinsically linked to that phenomenon.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: This study was supported by the Major Special Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China in 2024, titled “A Comparative Study on the Origins of Chinese and Foreign Civilizations” (2024JZDZ058), the Archaeological Talent Promotion Program of China (2024-267), and Yulin Science and Technology Plan Project “Research on Bronze Ware of Eurasian Type in Yulin Region” (CXY-2021-127).
About the Authors
Xiang Liu
China-Central Asia “Belt and Road” Joint Laboratory on Human and Environment Research, School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University
China
China
Liu Xiang, Associate Professor
No. 229 Taibai Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710069
Jiayi Jiang
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Cultural Heritage Bureau
China
China
Jiang Jiayi, Employee
No. 312 Renmin Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 830017
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Review
For citations:
Liu X., Jiang J. A Study of Seima-Turbino Bronze Artifacts Discovered in China. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2025;53(1):64-73. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.1.064-073
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