Hi Gav,
Found an interesting item on Chinese sword unearthing that might be pertinant:
"The Sword of Gou Jian, King of Yue State and the Spear of Fu Chai, King of Wu State", Hu Bei Provincial Museum, 1984
This sword was apparantly unearthed in December,1965 in Tomb #1, in Wang Shan, 7km NW Ji Nan City, by archaeologists of Hu Bei Provincial Museum .
The sword is described as 55.6 cm.long and joining part of body and handle is 5 cm.wide. It is noted the sword, when unearthed was still in a wooden sheath painted with black lacquer. The bronze weapons of Wu and Yue states were apparantly well known in the Spring & Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
The chemical analysis of Gou Jian's sword revealed alloy of bronze, tin, lead, iron and sulfur etc. and it is noted the ridge contains a higher proportion of bronze for strength, while blade has more tin to make it hard and sharp. (for our metallurgists I am citing from the brochure). It is also noted that the black color on the swords 'body' , joining part and handle results from vulcanization, then newly invented to prevent patination on bronze.
Gou Jian reigned 496-465 BC and Hu Bei province is adjacent to and NW of Jiangxi where this recent discovery was found.
I thought this would prove interesting in comparison, especially that these swords are found in such remarkable preservation.
All the best,
Jim
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