• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.208-227
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• 2013

Twenty-seven bronze bowls excavated from the Goryo burial complex at Deobu-gol were examined for their microstructure and chemical composition to characterize the bronze technology practiced by commoners at the time. Results showed that the objects examined can be classified into four groups: 1) objects forged out of Cu-near 22%Sn alloys and then quenched; 2) objects cast from Cu-below 10% Sn alloys containing lead; 3) objects cast from Cu-10%~20% Sn alloys containing lead and then quenched; 4) objects forged out of Cu-10~20% Sn alloys containing lead and then quenched. This study revealed that the fabrication technique as determined by alloy compositions plays an important role in bronze technology. The use of lead was clearly associated with the selection of quenching temperatures, the character of inclusions and the color characteristics of bronze surfaces. It was found that the objects containing lead were quenched at temperatures of $520^{\circ}{\sim}586^{\circ}C$ while those without lead were quenched at the range of $586^{\circ}{\sim}799^{\circ}C$. The presence of selenium in impurity inclusions was detected only in alloys containing lead, suggesting that the raw materials, Cu and Sn, used in making the lead-free alloys for the first group were carefully selected from those smelted using ores without lead contamination. Furthermore, the addition of lead was found to have significant effects on the color characteristics of the surface of bronze alloys when they are subjected to corrosion during interment. In leaded alloys, corrosion turns the surface light green or dark green while in unleaded alloys, corrosion turns the surface dark brown or black. It was found that in fabrication, the wall thickness of the bronze bowls varies depending on the application of quenching; most of the quenched objects have walls 1mm thick or below while those without quenching have walls 1mm thick or above. Fabrication techniques in bronze making usually reflect social environments of a community. It is likely that in the late Goryo period, experiencing lack of skilled bronze workers, the increased demand for bronze was met in two ways; by the use of chief lead instead of expensive tin and by the use of casting suitable for mass production. The above results show that the Goryo bronze workers tried to overcome such a resource-limited environment through technological innovations as apparent in the use of varying fabrication techniques for different alloys. Recently, numerous bronze objects are excavated and available for investigation. This study shows that with the use of proper analytical techniques they can serve as a valuable source of information required for the characterization of the associated technology as well as the social environment leading to the establishment of such technology.