Some Amber Artifacts Excavated from Tombs of the Han Dynasty in Hunan Province

Amber has been well documented since Han Dynasty as a precious material, and many amber artifacts have been unearthed from tombs of Han Dynasty in China. It is generally believed that amber raw materials and some already-made artifacts may came from Europe (Baltic Sea) and Myanmar during the Han Dynasty, so amber and its artifacts are considered as a vital material and hard evidence of cultural exchange between ancient China and abroad. However, the analysis of excavated amber by using scientific methods is still limited so far. This paper applies Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to characterize several pieces of amber ornaments excavated from the tombs of Han Dynasty in central and southern Hunan Province and the results indicate that most of the ornaments were made of raw materials from Myanmar but also one Shuang Sheng amulet made of Baltic amber. Amber artifacts undergo significant deterioration during burial and exhibition, and varying degrees of deterioration and the presence of sedentary attachment may affect the results of infrared spectra of the amber, which in turn interferes with the study of tracing the origin of the amber raw material. A preliminary study of amber and ornaments made of various gemstones and glass could reveal that Hunan Province has influenced by both the Northern Steppe Silk Road and Southern Maritime Silk Road during the Han Dynasty and that in-land trade flows in this region were complex and diverse, and some amber ornaments may have been produced locally by exotic materials. More scientific data and analysis will support the study of ancient trade and cultural exchange during ancient time on a larger scale.