ABSTRACT
Due to the dominance, number, and concentration of jades to the exclusion of any other elite work of art from excavated Late Neolithic burials in China (ca. 3500–2000 BCE), I use the term “Jade Age” to describe this period (Childs-Johnson 1988; 2001; 2009). The abundant jades per burial make it possible to reconstruct the appearance of a ruler or high-ranking social member in terms of jade adornment. Three major leading and overlapping cultures defining the Jade Age comprise the Hongshan (ca. 4700–2900 BCE), followed by the Liangzhu (ca. 3300–2300/2100 BCE), and finally by the Longshan (ca. 3000–1900 BCE). In each of these cultures, elite adornments, including headgear, clothing, knee decor, and body ornaments, as well as insignia style weapons, were made from nephrite, the predominant material symbol of wealth and power in pre-Bronze Age China. The most prominent member of the Jade Age in terms of cultural achievement and jade exploitation was the Liangzhu culture. The Liangzhu elite prided themselves in their extensive collection of artistically worked jades for adornment—an extensive repertoire of costume jewelry covering head, neck, chest, arms, belt, and knees, and including insignia ax blades called yue. Each of the latter jade types could be discretely decorated with the most prominent image documenting belief in the spirit power of a semi-human deity (semi-human plus animal vehicle flanked by spirit birds). This power image came to define and evolve in historic times as the basis of a belief in spirit metamorphosis. Jade Age adornment did not die over time but became the most favored and appreciated physical symbol of spirit power, and adornment was the major way of flaunting this religo–political power.
