Beyond ritual bronzes: identifying multiple sources of highly radiogenic lead across Chinese history

One of the greatest enigmas in the study of Bronze Age China is the source of highly radiogenic lead discovered in the copper-based objects of the Shang period (ca. 1500–1046 BC). Although being relatively rare in nature, such lead contributed over half of the lead consumed across a vast area from the Yellow River to the Yangtze. Identifying its source and supply network would significantly contribute to our understanding of how China achieved the largest metal production across Eurasia. The past thirty years of research have seen various proposals for the origin of this lead, including south-western China, the middle Yangtze River valley, the Qinling and Zhongtiao mountains, and even Africa. This paper attempts to illustrate the tempero-spatial pattern of this highly radiogenic lead using the largest possible databank. Furthermore, by going beyond the bronze data and investigating lead isotopes in non-metal objects, we confirm that multiple sources of highly radiogenic lead must have been used across Chinese history. In turn, this implies the feasibility of a multi-source model for the lead in the Shang bronzes.