The Origin and Circulation of Cinnabar in Neolithic Age of China: Evidence From Sulfur and Mercury Isotope Analysis
ABSTRACT Cinnabar, valued for its blood‐like hue endowed with spiritual and religious symbolism, constituted one of the most prized pigments in ancient China. This material was extensively applied in lacquerware production during the Liangzhu culture (3300–2300 bce ). Our analytical approach employed EA‐IRMS and MC‐ICP‐MS to respectively characterize sulfur and mercury isotopes in Liangzhu cinnabar artifacts and cinnabar ores. Results revealed that combined sulfur–mercury isotopic signatures enable effective discrimination of cinnabar provenances across Chinese regions. Analytical data confirm that δ 34 S, δ 202 Hg, and Δ 199 Hg values in most Liangzhu cinnabars align with ore signatures from the Youjiang and Xiangqian Hg deposits (Southwest China), demonstrating the establishment of cross‐regional cinnabar exchange networks during the Neolithic period.
Authors
- Zhaobing Zhong
- Yunlu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8667-4625)
- Huiyuan Gan
- Ye Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7861-9303)
- Tao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1390-6309)
- Ming‐Hui Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1935-2447)
- Xiang Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1656-3986)
- Xiaotong Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3857-0390)
- Ningyuan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6949-9356)
- F. Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1852-0544)
- Xingxiang Zhang
Institutions
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology (CN)
- Renmin University of China (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Archaeometry
- Published
- 2025-10-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.70043
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 12.99