1050–256 BCE

Period · East Asia

Zhou

1050–256 BCE

The Zhou dynasty spans the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, with inscribed ritual bronzes, early cast coinage and lacquer. Iron and crossbows appear in the Warring States. It ended with Qin unification.

Dates1050–256 BCE
RegionEast Asia

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Zhou" (Period). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/periods/zhou. Accessed 2026-09-21.

@misc{stratum-zhou,
  title        = {Zhou},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/periods/zhou}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Period article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, wikidata. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.

Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial);Wikidata (CC0). As of 2026-09-21; Strata pack 2026.09. Data reproduced under the licences shown; text in Stratum's own words unless a section names its source.

Found an error? Write to drew@tyr.ac with the article id period:zhou.

Stratum is the inventory, provenance and certificate system for fossil, mineral and shell collections. Strata is its open reference: every fact cites its source, and the credits page lists each one with its licence.