A comparative study on the jade drilling technology of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations and prehistoric China
Abstract
Through the examination of Olmec jade objects at the Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Maya jade artifacts from the Chichén Itzá site housed in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, two categories of drilling techniques have been identified: practical and ritual. Practical drilling encompasses drilling positioning, sequential drilling for decoration and openwork. Ritual drilling imbues jade objects with symbolism related to breath and life. In Neolithic China, two systems of drilling techniques for jade processing have been reconstructed: axial rotary drilling and bearing rotary drilling.
Postscript
The original article 中美洲古代文明与中国史前玉器钻孔技术的比较研究 was published in Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology) 2022.9:74–84 with 14 figures and 35 notes. This English version, translated by Xiaohan Zhao 赵潇涵, has removed the notes.
Further readings
Deng, Cong 邓聪. 中华文明探源与辘轳机械的发现 [Tracing the origin of Chinese civilization and the discovery of wheel-based machinery]. In Aomen Heisha yushi zuofang 澳门黑沙玉石作坊 [Jade Workshop at Heisha Site in Macao]. Macao SAR: Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macao, Cultural Affairs Bureau and Sports Bureau, 2013.Search in Google Scholar
Ortíz, Ponciano, and María del Carmen Rodríguez. “The sacred hill of El Manatí: a preliminary discussion of the site’s ritual paraphernalia.” Studies in the History of Art 58 (2000): 74–93.Search in Google Scholar
Taube, Karl A., and Reiko Ishihara-Brito. “From stone to jewel: jade in ancient Maya religion and rulership.” In Ancient Maya Art at Dumbarton Oaks, 135–153. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2012.Search in Google Scholar
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- Paleolithic site of Xuetang Liangzi in Shiyan, Hubei
- Sitai Neolithic site in Shangyi, Hebei
- Neolithic site of Nanzuo in Qingyang, Gansu
- Shang royal mausoleum area and its surroundings at Yinxu in Anyang, Henan
- Bronze Age site at Hebosuo in Kunming, Yunnan
- Xixia Suyukou porcelain kiln site in Helan, Ningxia
- Reports
- Dawenkou culture cemetery at the southern Gangshang site in Tengzhou, Shandong
- The excavation of the Tang tombs of Dai Zhou and his wife in Chang’an District, Xi’an
- Research
- The three grand cultural spheres of the Holocene Eurasian Continent
- Preliminary discussions on painted pottery in Neolithic China
- A comparative study on the jade drilling technology of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations and prehistoric China
- Seima-Turbino-type bronze spearheads from Xiawanggang in Xichuan and the implications for north-south cultural exchange
- “Export” of ninth- to tenth-century Chinese bronze mirrors: Shipwreck findings from the Java Sea
- Biological evolutionary insights into the origins of agriculture: Evidence from the origin of rice agriculture
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- Paleolithic site of Xuetang Liangzi in Shiyan, Hubei
- Sitai Neolithic site in Shangyi, Hebei
- Neolithic site of Nanzuo in Qingyang, Gansu
- Shang royal mausoleum area and its surroundings at Yinxu in Anyang, Henan
- Bronze Age site at Hebosuo in Kunming, Yunnan
- Xixia Suyukou porcelain kiln site in Helan, Ningxia
- Reports
- Dawenkou culture cemetery at the southern Gangshang site in Tengzhou, Shandong
- The excavation of the Tang tombs of Dai Zhou and his wife in Chang’an District, Xi’an
- Research
- The three grand cultural spheres of the Holocene Eurasian Continent
- Preliminary discussions on painted pottery in Neolithic China
- A comparative study on the jade drilling technology of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations and prehistoric China
- Seima-Turbino-type bronze spearheads from Xiawanggang in Xichuan and the implications for north-south cultural exchange
- “Export” of ninth- to tenth-century Chinese bronze mirrors: Shipwreck findings from the Java Sea
- Biological evolutionary insights into the origins of agriculture: Evidence from the origin of rice agriculture
