Chinese neolithic jade: A preliminary geoarchaeological study

AbstractThis study deals with a geoarchaeological examination of the jade artifacts unearthed from the major sites of jade‐using cultures over Neolithic China. The earliest examples of true jade—tremolite‐actinolite nephrite—were jade artifacts from the Chahai site at Fuxin in Liaoning, dating back to the 6th millennium B.C., approximately contemporaneous with the beginning of the Neolithic age. The expansion of jade‐using culture during the Neolithic period was gradually from east through west China. The jade‐using culture thrived especially in both the lower Yangtze River and Liao River valleys, and came to a climax during the late Neolithic period when not only could nephrite be discerned from jadelike and other minerals and rocks, but also nephrite of various grades could apparently be deliberately used to make jades of different types according to their importance in social life. It may be suggested that the raw nephrite used to make jades during the Neolithic age was derived from unknown ancient deposits that might be within China proper rather than at Kunlun Mountain.