Are Alpine jade and greenstone axes ritual objects, or simply top-quality tools? Polishing flint boosts impact resistance by removing weak fracture points. Pristine greenstone axes in burials may represent the finest gear given to the deceased rather than purely symbolic items. The preserved examples are just a tiny fraction of everyday Neolithic tools. 🪨
Greenstone and jade axes: sacred objects or practical tools?
Key facts
- Alpine jade axes and greenstone axes are often classified in archaeology as ritual or sacred items
- Flint axes become more impact-resistant when polished smooth, eliminating fracture points where pressure builds up
- Unmarked, unused-looking greenstone axes in burials may represent the best possible tool given to the deceased rather than purely symbolic objects
- Greenstone and other precious stone axes preserved in burials represent only a tiny fraction of everyday axes used in Neolithic communities
Sources
The Production and Circulation of Alpine Jade Axe-Heads during ...link.springer.com
The Production and Circulation of Alpine Jade Axe-Heads during the European Neolithic: Ethnoarchaeological Bases of Their Interpretation.
JADE. Tomes 1 et 2 - Chapitre 27. Alpine axes and early metallurgybooks.openedition.org
28The fact that Alpine jade axes were imitated in copper testifies to the enormous importance the jade axes must have had in Denmark, as the metal itself was of ...
Full article: Axes of Alpine jade from southern Scandinavia and ...tandfonline.com
... Neolithic groups exploiting its jade resources. Other beliefs were probably attached to the axes during the life history of the objects. Specific rites of ...
[PDF] Alpine jades in the European Neolithic - HAL-SHSshs.hal.science
Here, it was the long axehead of Alpine jade that featured in the mythological imagery that was engraved on standing stones, some of them truly.
Neolithic Chinese Jade Axes | History Forumhistorum.com
The text mentions that these were likely for ritual purposes. What sort of ritual purposes would these axes have been used for? I know the ...
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