大冶铜绿山古矿遗址英文解说词

Daye, the most important production of blister copper in the pre-Qin Period, at where our laborious and sapiential ancestors had mined and smelted before 3,000 years ago. It creates the fabulous culture of mining and metallurgy and casts the bronze civilization with long history of the Chinese nation.

In 1973, the Tonglushan miners discovered the ancient implements for mining in their production process; From 1974 to 1985, archaeologists made large-scale scientific excavation on here; In 1982, The PRC State Council announced The Ancient Tonglushan Copper Mining for the national key cultural Heritages; In 2001, it was rated as one of the 100 grand discoveries of China in 20th century. In 2012, it was on the preliminary list of the World Cultural Heritages again.

The archaeological excavation in The Ancient Tonglushan Ruins indicated that the history of mining and smelting lasted over 1,000 years: from the Shang Dynasty to the Western Han Dynasty. So far it was found with the largest scale, the best preserved the highest smelting skills and the richest significance. In the 1,100 square meter main hall of the site, the archaeologists have found different mining structures and support systems for several hundred wells that include vertical wells, slanted wells, blind wells and so on, as well as many implements for mining and ore production. Meanwhile, ten shaft furnaces for copper smelting of the Spring and Autumn Period were found as well as two of the Warring

States Period.

The analysis indicated that the craftsman before Pre-Qin Period had possessed the ability to use the most simple tools and materials to dig deep wells for mining. They resolved to a certain degree the complex technical issues such as supporting the wells, creating air ducts, allowing for light, and expelling water. The high-temperature technology and the distribution of the smelting slag, as well as the high-effective and high-producing skill of shaft furnace represent the highest level of smelting technology of the Bronze Age.

The Ancient Tonglu Mountain Copper Mining leaves prosperous footprint of Chinese bronze age and is the cultural treasure of the Chinese nation as well as the common heritage of mankind. Xia Nai, the late renowned archaeologist and the original Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology, holds the opinion that the discovery and excavation of The Tonglu Mountain Cooper Mining opens up a new field not only for the study of Chinese bronze culture but also for the Chinese Archaeology. After an expedition to The Ancient Tonglu Ruins, the United States Harvard University professor Mr. Maidin said: “comparing with other mining and metallurgy ruins of the world, Tonglu Mountain is top-ranking. Though the copper smelting started early in the Middle East and other places, there is no site has such large-scale like Tonglu Mountain. The well preserved smelting furnaces and the highest smelting