The Ancient Lingling-O: Understanding Jade Stone Manufacture through Experimental Drilling and Scanning Electron Microscope Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The aim of this project is to understand the processes of jade stone manufacture of the Lingling-o, an ancient jade ornamental artifact found in Southeast Asia. As a favored body decoration in prehistoric societies, its distribution through a sea-based trade network in South China Sea, and the manufacture of jade stone materials influence the development of technological industries in Taiwan, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines during the Neolithic and Bronze-Iron Age. Considering the nature of jade artifacts from known archaeological sites, this experiment aims to reconstruct technological inventions by remanufacturing the circular disk blanks use in making lingling-o by way of experimental drilling and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis in order to further understand behavioral processes and material resource procurement. Analyzing the stages of production allows characterization of craft specialization and the evolution of industries along with their socio-political strategies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25278