Radiogenic High-Tin Bronzes across the Bay of Bengal, and into the South China Sea

T. O. Pryce

Reconstructing early exchanges between the Indian and Pacific Ocean littoral are the task of multiple subdisciplines, each bringing their own strengths and weaknesses. Ancient metal assemblages are typically far smaller than their, e.g., archaeobotanical or pottery counterparts, and in the early adoption of metallurgy and/or technologies in their most elaborate form, arguably don't represent the 'common people'. However, in metallurgy's potential for typo-stylistic plasticity, technological sophistication and dispersed raw materials there lies an opportunity for identifying precisely which populations were in contact with others, as well as the nature of that interaction. In 2008, the Southeast Asian Lead Isotope Project (SEALIP) was founded and has grown to incorporate over 1300 artefacts from around 150 sites in a dozen countries. The project has increasingly incorporated Chinese archaeometallurgical datasets. In order to address Southeast Asian questions about South Asian cultural and technological influences, particularly in the realm of high-tin bronze forged and quenched bowls, SEALIP was able to analyse a number of metal samples from sites as varied as Tilpi and Gazole in West Bengal, Mahurjhari in Maharastra, Adichanullur, Kodumanal and Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu (India), Taxila in Rawalpindi (Pakistan) and Tissamaharama in Hambantota (Sri Lanka), as well as examples from Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. This paper offers the latest reconstructions of the interaction webs these iconic artefacts may represent.