However, in the Eastern Zhou period (771-221 BC) gold began to be increasingly used on a larger scale, though goldworking still relied to a great extent on well-established bronze technology, with ornaments and other items cast using moulds.
This gold dagger handle has a conspicuous line on its sides, showing that it was probably cast in a two-piece mould. It bulges at the tops as well as at the junction where the blade would have been. The hilt is hollowed out and both sides are decorated with a design known as 'dragon interlace'.
The gold hilt is very fragile, which probably made it impractical for use on a real sword. It may have been made for display or for placing in a tomb for taking to the afterlife.
Jade Coiled Dragon
Neolithic period, Hongshan culture, around 3500 BC
It was long believed that Chinese civilization began in the Yellow River valley, but we now know that there were many earlier cultures both to the north and south of this area. From about 3800 to 2700 BC a group of Neolithic peoples known now as the Hongshan culture lived in the far north-east, in what is today Liaoning province and Inner Mongolia. The Hongshan were a sophisticated society that built impressive ceremonial sites.
Jade was obviously highly valued by the Hongshan; artefacts made of jade were sometimes the only items placed in tombs along with the body of the deceased.
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