JADEITITE AND OTHER AXES IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN DURING THE NEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE

NEO-JADE: NEW PATTERNS IN STONE AGE EXOTIC STONE EXPLOITATION AROUND THE WORLD
Theme: Interpreting the archaeological record: artefacts, humans and landscapes
Organisers: Bausch, Ilona (Kokugakuin University Museum; Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts & Cultures) -
Sørensen, Lasse (National Museum of Denmark)
Format: Regular session
Worldwide, jade and jade-like minerals (including but not limited to jadeitite and nephrite) were selected for the production of
ground stone tools or ornaments. Such objects were particularly valued as a mediator of entanglement: a symbolic communicator
connecting people in past, present and future.Their scarcity and physical, functional and aesthetic qualities have inspired
peoples to travel long distances to acquire these raw materials. This session is a search for new patterns in the exploitations of
jade (and minerals with similar properties) around the world, and focuses on quarrying, exploitation, distribution, production, use,
and socio-political and cultural significance in Stone Age communities.
After the pioneering exploitation stage, how does jade become integrated in prehistoric societies as a routinized practice? Does
it entail the creation of special meeting places, hubs of activity, specific kinds of rituals involving specialised knowledge? Does
it entail social change? Was there a preference for ”jade” above minerals with similar properties? These discussions are dependent
on provenance and social and archaeological context. Approaches include petrographic and geochemical analysis; and the
chaîne opératoire of jade (aspects involving production, circulation, consumption, and discovery).
Although the main focus is on Europe, we also encourage comparative pespectives, from regions including Eurasia, East and
Southeast Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean. This will give rise to a new proxy for the study of the emergence of prehistoric