Pseudomorph weapons

The pseudomorphs after fabric were located in an area roughly between H and U on the x axis, and between 3.6 and 9.0 on the y axis. This area corresponds to approximately 52% of the spearpoint s length and 81% of its width. Examination of the spearpoint during the survey phase had already indicated shifts in the geometry of the fabric with respect to the weapon s form (6). 

As a form of direct fabric evidence, the physical shapes of textile fabric pseudomorphs have been studied to identify fiber type and yam and fabric construction. Pseudomorphs of paired filaments in mineralized fabric formations found on Shang-period bronze weapons were determined to be replaced silk (I, 2) S-and Z-twisted silk staple yarn pseudomorphs were identified as well as fabric constructions, including float yams and a ribbed weave. 

In 1978, Sibley et al. (7) reported the finding of silk pseudomorphs on three Shang Dynasty bronze weapons at the Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia. The authors considered the work to be preliminary and confirmed a lack of organic structure for the formations adhering to the weapons. By using one of the same weapons as the object for study, Sibley and Jakes (2) proposed microenvironmental conditions necessary for mineralization to occur. Included in that work is a more extensive examination and comparison of published and unpublished reports of the phenomenon than is considered here. The reader is referred to the article for detailed discussion of the earlier studies of pseudomorphs. 

The presence of yarn-type formations from two different systems interlacing in a perpendicular relation to each other confirms a formerly woven-fabric structure for the pseudomorphs. The evidence of the pseu-domorphic fibers, yarns, and fabrics confirms the former presence of silk fabrics on a Shang Dynasty bronze weapon. Further discussion and implications of these findings fall outside the purview of this investigation future work will focus upon an analysis of specific fabric structures present on Shang bronzes. 

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