For thisqualityjade,nephriteandjadeite,has been usedby humanssince Neolithic times: jadeis a verysuitable stone for the manufactureof axes, hatchets, chisels, ... read more
Small bits and pieces of jade broken off by various geological processes could be found near larger veins or downstream from them, washed away from their source. Jade is still hunted in the mountain streams of southwestern Xinjian province in China as it has been for centuries. read more
During Neolithic times, the known sources of nephrite jade in China were the Ningshao area in the Yangtze River Delta (during the Liangzhu culture , 3400–2250 BCE) and in the Liaoning province in Inner Mongolia (during the Hongshan culture, 4700–2200 BCE). read more
Nephrite jade was used mostly in pre-1800 China as well as in New Zealand, the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic Coast of North America, Neolithic Europe, and Southeast Asia. In addition to Mesoamerica, jadeite was used by Neolithic Japanese and European cultures. read more