--- description: Buried mine rewrites the past title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Buried mine rewrites the past image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9153bd4412a39836/6a3b87ca51be4c541470cf70/7._Buried_mine_rewrites_the_past.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Buried mine rewrites the past  _An aerial view of the Tonglushan Ancient Copper Mine site. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY_ By DENG ZHANGYU In 1928, archaeologists unearthed a vast collection of bronze artifacts dating back about 3,300 years at the Yinxu Ruins in Anyang, Henan province, including a massive bronze vessel weighing 1836 pounds. The discovery raised a fundamental question: Who produced such a large quantity of bronze, and where did the copper originate? Despite decades of research, no definitive answers emerged, prompting some scholars to speculate that China’s bronze culture may have had foreign origins. A breakthrough finally came in 1973\. At a mining site in Daye, Hubei province, archaeologists discovered copper axes, the largest weighing 36 pounds, revealing an ancient mine that had been buried for more than 2,000 years. The site is now known as the Tonglushan Ancient Copper Mine. Years of archaeological investigation suggest that mining at the Tonglushan site was most active from the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century B.C.) to the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 24), spanning over 1,000 years. “This discovery finally provided the long-sought answer to the source of raw materials for bronze artifacts, rewriting the history of China’s ancient bronze civilization,” says Wu Hongtang, a veteran archaeologist who participated in the site’s first excavations in the 1970s. According to Wu, Tonglushan is an ancient mining and smelting complex distinguished by its long period of operation, large scale, complete production chain, advanced technology, and exceptional state of preservation. To date, archaeologists have identified more than 100 mining and smelting sites and over 250 ancient tombs, along with a wealth of mining tools and traces of daily life. Wu notes that among the many ancient copper mining sites discovered in China, Tonglushan is the only one where miners’ tombs have been found. Fewer than 300 artifacts have been unearthed from these tombs. Among them are two high-status burials, believed to belong to a mining engineer and a site supervisor, containing valuable objects such as copper knives, jade artifacts, and small bronze cauldrons. “The limited number of unearthed artifacts suggests that the living conditions for ordinary miners at the time were extremely harsh. The differences among the tombs also reflect the class distinctions of that era,” Wu explains. One of the site’s most remarkable discoveries is a set of 35 barefoot footprints left by ancient miners. In 2012, Chen Shuxiang, a researcher at the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and his colleagues uncovered the footprints during an excavation. The prints vary in condition, with the longest intact footprint measuring 10 inches. Based on their characteristics, experts identified them as ancient barefoot impressions. Judging from their depth and surrounding evidence, Chen says he believes the miners were likely carrying heavy loads while crossing wet ground. Chen notes that some mining shafts reach depths of 197 to 262 feet. Yet, no human remains have been found inside them, suggesting that no major underground accidents occurred during the site’s long history of operation. At the Tonglushan Site Museum, visitors can view a vast archaeological excavation resembling an “underground labyrinth.” The original mining site, a dense network of shafts and tunnels, has been preserved in situ beneath a protective exhibition hall measuring 118 feet long and 98 feet wide, built in 1984. Viewed from above, visitors see a “maze” of vertical shafts, inclined passageways, horizontal tunnels, and blind shafts supported by wooden structures. Drainage channels and wooden troughs weave through the complex, offering a vivid picture of how ancient miners excavated ore and maintained underground operations. The museum’s new building, opened in June 2023, features five themed exhibition halls that explore how ancient people located copper deposits, developed mining techniques, mastered smelting technology, and transported bronze materials across the region. Wu says that in ancient times, people often located copper deposits by looking for a plant called _Elsholtzia splendens_, which has red stems and green leaves. It resembles a toothbrush and produces purple flowers. Every November, when the flowers are in full bloom, Tonglushan Mountain is covered in a sea of purple. The site’s copper-smelting technology was remarkably advanced. Ancient metallurgists developed a stone-built shaft furnace into which alternating layers of ore and charcoal were loaded. Unlike contemporary furnaces in Mesopotamia, which were typically used only once, these furnaces could be reused repeatedly. It is estimated that the mining area produced about 440,925 short tons of ancient slag, yielding between 88,185 and 132,277 short tons of crude copper. The copper ingots smelted had a copper content of over 93%, while the slag contained only 0.7% copper — evidence of highly efficient purification techniques. “This level is remarkably close to modern standards,” Wu says. Scientific testing has since confirmed that the elemental composition of copper used in bronze artifacts from the Panlongcheng site in Wuhan, Hubei province, and the bronzes found in Fu Hao’s tomb at Yinxu matches that of copper from Tonglushan. The findings provide strong evidence that Tonglushan served as a major source of copper for China’s bronze industry in ancient times, “proving that China’s bronze civilization developed independently and formed its own system”, Wu says. [](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) ## China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World Since its launch in 1981, China Daily has grown to become the nation’s leading English-language newspaper. 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[LEARN MORE](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Buried mine rewrites the past ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/buried-mine-rewrites-the-past/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/buried-mine-rewrites-the-past/"},"headline":"Buried mine rewrites the past","datePublished":"2026-07-09T07:54:32.278Z","dateModified":"2026-07-09T07:54:24.910Z","description":"Buried mine rewrites the past","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/buried-mine-rewrites-the-past/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/buried-mine-rewrites-the-past/","name":"Buried mine rewrites the past"}}]}] ```