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A 600-year-old ceramic lamp discovered in Shanxi province in 2021 has shed light on the technological skills and cultural practices of the era, when people mixed fuels to make their oil lamps burn longer, cleaner and brighter.
A small bowl-shaped lamp recovered from a tomb in Nantou village dates back to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Using high-sensitivity techniques, researchers discovered traces of the fuel in the lamp – a surprising mixture of linseed oil, mutton tallow and beeswax – offering a rare glimpse into the everyday lives of people of that time. Most excavated lamps have yielded little or no remains, making this find exceptionally rare.
Wang Keqing, a researcher at the Institute of Conservation at the National Museum of China in Beijing, said there could be three reasons for using the fuel mixture. This combination could produce a bright flame with a pleasant aroma and relatively little smoke; The user may be attempting to reduce lamp oil consumption; Or the fuel could be used differently during different periods.
The presence of wax points to a possible desire for aroma and less smoke. This probably reduced the possibility of fuel spoilage. Vegetable oil helped the flame to burn faster.
These fuels were probably used together to light lamps, which were then placed in the tomb during the burial ceremony, Wang said. However, it is also possible that different fuels were used to light the lamp at different times and that the lamp was the personal property of the deceased, which is why it was buried with them as part of a ritual.
“Burial practices reflect ancient beliefs regarding life and death and the anticipation of a good afterlife,” he said.
The tradition of lighting lamps for the dead continues in modern China as a form of ancestor worship, said Li Gang, vice president of the Xinzhou Institute of Cultural Relations and Archaeology.
The occupant of the tomb was probably not a high-ranking official but a wealthy commoner, Li said. The use of mixed fuels shows that ancient lamps and their fuels were not standardized but were the product of ingenuity and practical adaptations.
The fuel of the lamp also sheds light on broader historical patterns. Early lamps primarily used animal fat. The use of wax began during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), and the practice became popular among the elite. As the belief grew that the smoke from tallow was harmful to health, including eyesight, new methods of burning were developed. The cultivation of white-wax worms for candle production expanded between the 10th and 14th centuries, and during the Ming dynasty a mixture of vegetable oil and wax was primarily used to light lamps.