Reconstruction of Yayoi-period ritual destruction of bronzesthrough crystal structure analysis

根据考古学和金属工程学之间的跨学科方法，这项研究分析了从公元3世纪初(最后的弥生)遗址出土的青铜钟和镜子碎片，当时位于大和王国出现的前夕。结果表明，迅速失去神圣性的青铜钟被加热到700摄氏度以上并粉碎，以便在其他青铜器的生产中重复使用；相比之下，为了克服供应不足的问题，铜镜(特别是那些设计成相互关联的弧形的铜镜)被粉碎并作为以Setouchi和Kinai地区为中心的精英邦联的权威象征进行分发。

Informed by an interdisciplinary approach between archaeology and metal engineering, this study presents an analysis of bronze bell and mirror fragments unearthed from sites dating to the early-3rd-century (Final Yayoi), temporallysituated on the eve of the Yamato Kingdom’s emergence. The results indicate that bronze bells, having rapidly lost their sanctity, were heated to over 700°C and shattered in order to be reused in the production of other bronzes; in contrast, bronze mirrors (particularly those with designs of interconnected arcs [naik -kamon-ky ]), in aneffort to overcome deficient supply, were shattered and distributed as anauthoritysymbol of the elite confederacy centered on the Setouchi and Kinai regions.