Provenance investigation of material of Spring and Autumn Period Stone Chimes unearthed in the State of Chu in China

Abstract To investigate the provenance of the Spring and Autumn Period stone chimes unearthed in the State of Chu in China and the relationship of ancient stone chime and Lingbi Qing stone, seven ancient stone chime samples that were collected from the Jiu Liandun tombs, Lei Gudun tombs and Shuangdun tomb were analysed by petrographic microscope and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The results from the chime samples were compared with the seven stone samples that were found nearby the ancient sample sites. The results indicate that the raw material of two samples unearthed from the Shuangdun tomb in Anhui province may have come from Lingbi city, the composition of stone chime samples JIdM1-27 and LgdM2:122 were similar to marble sample Xft2 from Suizhou City, and samples JldM2-34 and LgdM2-117 were distinctly different from the contrastive sample such that the provenance of the stone materials was unclear. This research is the first to study the provenance of Chinese ancient stone chime materials, and the results should provide insight into the study of Chinese ancient stone chime and Chu Music.