Use of lacquer collected from Toxicodendron succedaneum for the Neolithic lacquerware detected in Zhejiang Province of China

• Toxicodendron succedaneum lacquer was used during Neolithic period in eastern China. • No lacquer coating from Toxicodendron vernicifluum was found at four studied sites. • Use of Toxicodendron succedaneum lacquer agrees with present distribution in China. Lacquer coatings of lacquerware excavated from four Neolithic sites in Zhejiang Province of eastern China were analyzed with Py-GC/MS analysis. The studied lacquered objects were recovered at the Tianluoshan, Liangzhu-Bianjiashan, Liangzhu-Zhongjiagang, and Kuahuqiao sites. We also carried out radiocarbon dating of seven objects. In 14 of 17 lacquer coating samples, the pyrosis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) had the highest intensity in 3-nonylphenol and revealed existence of alkylphenols with 17 carbons in the side chains. These features in the Py-GC/MS results are characteristic of laccol composing the lacquer obtained from Toxicodendron succedaneum . Radiocarbon dating of six studied lacquer coatings and three wooden bodies from these sites ranged from 8000 to 4650 cal BP and indicated that, during the Neolithic period, the lacquer of Toxicodendron succedaneum was used for lacquerware manufacture for nearly 3000 years in eastern China. The obtained results conformed with the present distribution of Toxicodendron succedaneum and T. vernicifluum in China, T. succedaneum in the southern to eastern parts and T. vernicifluum in the central to northeastern parts. This finding, however, disagreed with the traditional understanding about the Neolithic lacquerware manufacture in China that the lacquer from Toxicodendron vernicifluum was solely used for the manufacture.