'Casting' bronze artefacts

26th November 2021
We had a great afternoon on Friday.  We have been finding out about the Bronze age Shang Dynasty and what sort of bronze artefacts archaeologists have found.  The children have been doing detailed drawings of the of the artefacts including bronze bells, drums, wine carriers, cups, weapons and large chests called dings.  To help us think about the skill involved we had a go at our own 'bronze casting'.
 
We melted wax with tin pigment and copper pigment and mixed them together to make 'bronze'.  The children had created molds for the artefact using sand. They did this with their fingers, stamps and with cocktail sticks for fine detail.  We poured in the melted wax bronze to create their design.
 
These worked very well and the children are looking forward to taking theirs home now they have set.