Excavations in the Shaanxi province have led to the discovery of a 3,000-year-old Western Zhou Dynasty bureau dedicated to the production of gilded-silk thread. The site features a series of specialized pits containing intact bone calibration-weights used to maintain precise tension during the application of gold-leaf to silk fibers. This ultra-specialized industrial process produced the high-status 'cloth of gold' reserved exclusively for the Zhou imperial court and high-ranking nobility.
The facility includes specialized stone-lined troughs for mineral-mordant baths and several bone-shuttles with unique micro-grooves designed for ultra-fine thread. This discovery provides the first physical evidence of a centralized imperial authority managing the technical standards of luxury textile production. The presence of high-grade cinnabar and gold-dust residue in the workshop's drainage channels confirms the site's role as a major hub for the 10th-century BCE Chinese luxury economy.