Metallurgical study of bronze bells excavated from the Miruksa (temple) site in Iksan

익산 미륵사지 출토 동종의 금속학적 연구

Mireuksa is a temple that was established in the Baekjea Period and continued around to the 16thcentury. The sites of the temple throughout diverse periods such as the United Shilla Period, KoryuPeriod, and Chosun Period including the one of the early temple in the late Baekjea Period were discovered. In those temple sites, there were lots of diverse artifacts discovered including artifacts in the Bronze Age. In this study, the compositions of four bronze bells excavated from Mireuksa site in Iksan were analyzed and the manufacturing technique of bronze bells was studied through the observation of microstructure. Also, the analytical cases of ancient bronze bells were collected and compared. Furthermore, the provenance study of the bronze bells site was attempted with the Pbisotope ratio. The results aim to offer crucial keys for discovering the aspect of society as well as information about the origin, development, and the route of propagation of ancient technologies. Bronze bell No. 1 showed an unexpected composition as Cu was found 98.5% in it. There were shown twins which were created by annealing and an even phase in the fine grains. It was also shown that bronze bell No. 2 and 4 had a high content of Pb although they showed a similar composition with general bronze bells in terms of Sn content. As shown in the analysis characteristics table of Korean bronze bell of this study, the ancient bronze bell used Pb of which content was limited to 2.12% in general, however, the results showed 15.5% and 13.2% respectively, which is an excessive amount. Asa result of analyzing inclusion in the microstructure of bronze bell No. 2, it was found that sulfide group mineral was used since there appeared S(14.55%). Also, it was proven that $CuFeS_2$ or$Cu_5FeS_4$ was used as a raw material because there was a small amount of Fe. As a result of analyzing inclusion of bronze bell No. 4, the bronze bell sample contained S(13.43%) and it is thought that sulfide group mineral was used, however, it had no Fe. Therefore, it is not connected to $CuFeS_2$ which is the main mineral of Korea. In addition, a strain line was shown with processing in bronze bell No. 2 and 4. As a result of provenance study of bronze bell No. 2 and 4 using the Pb isotope ratio, they or their raw materials are estimated to come from the southern China. Bronze bell No. 3 showed only Cu and Sn, and it is featured with a relatively low amount of Sn(6.63%). The microstructure has only phase, andintergranular corrosion was highly in progress.