Natural Science in Archaeology

16 1 Introduction and History
375 minerals (for example, the use of mercury and iron to cure anemia). Some of the
minerals employed were magnetite (magnatitum), red ochre clay, goethite, mica,
and pyrite (Qin and Li 1992).
Readers interested in Chinese archaeomineralogy should read Needham (1959),
Sects. 23 (geology) and 25 (mineralogy), where, although he complains of the
dearth of information in Chinese or Western languages on Chinese contributions
to the development of geology and mineralogy, he provides a detailed history of
Chinese mineralogy, mainly from early Chinese sources. Among other things,
Needham illustrates the reasonably accurate geomorphology in ancient Chinese art.
By the late first century BCE the Chinese believed in the alchemical principle of
the transformation of one mineral into another. From Han times (206 BCE–220
CE) to the last Chinese Dynasty, the Ching (Qing, 1644–1912 CE), most mineral
descriptions were contained in pharmacopoeias. Mineral remedies were included
from the earliest times. Cinnabar, alum, saltpeter, hematite, and amethyst were of
greatest value. Orpiment, realgar, marble, and azurite had modest value and stalagmites,
iron, lead carbonate, lime, and fuller’s earth were among those with least
value. (Needham 1959:643) As early as 815 CE a Chinese Synonymic Dictionary
listed 335 synonyms of 62 chemical substances. An eleventh century Chinese book
on geology and mineralogy discusses the formation of rocks and such minerals as
gold, jade, arsenolite (as being poisonous), cinnabar, alum, green vitriol, and halite.
(Needham 1959:637) As elsewhere in the world, color played a prominent role in
classifying minerals. From the Han Dynasty on the practical uses of minerals were
noted: cinnabar for red inks and paints and also in medicines to promote longevity,
powdered steatite as a filler in paper, lead salts in glazes, kaolin as an antacid, and
calcium sulfate in the preparation of the Chinese national dish tou fu.
Early Indian medicine consisted mainly of drugs made from native plants. However,
some medications employed minerals. Sanskrit texts mention the use of bitumen,
rock salt, yellow orpiment, chalk, alum, bismuth, calamine, realgar, stibnite,
saltpeter, cinnabar, arsenic, sulfur, yellow and red ochre, black sand, and red clay in
prescriptions. Among the metals used were gold, silver, copper, mercury, iron, iron
ores, pyrite, tin, and brass. Mercury appeared to have been the most frequently used,
and it is called by several names in the texts. Physicians in India used mercury from
800 BCE to 1000 CE for skin diseases, smallpox, and later, for syphilis. No Indian
source for mercury or its ores has been located, leading to the suggestion that it may
have been imported (Murthy 1983).