Philippine Jade Artifact made of white and green nephrite and dating as far back as 2000-1500 BC, has been found in a number of archaeological excavations in the Philippines since the 1930s. The artifacts are tools such as chisels, and ornaments such as lingle-o earrings, bracelets and beads.
Tens of thousands of beautifully crafted jade artifacts found on a site in Batangas province have led schlars to conclude that the Philippines has a significant "jade culture" in the archipelago era.
Video Philippine jade artifacts
History
Nephrite, otherwise known as Jade, is a mineral widely used throughout Asia as an ornament or for decorative purposes. The earliest jade artefacts in Asia (6000 BC) are found in China where they are used as the main hard stone of Chinese carvings. In 3000 BC, jade production in Hongsan and Liangzhu culture in China reached its peak. During this period, knowledge of the jade craft spread in the sea to Taiwan and finally to the Philippines. Artifacts found in some sites in the Philippines are made from nephrite. Nephrite excavated in the Philippines consists of two types: white nephrite and green nephrite. Jade imports from Taiwan sparked artistic and technological innovation during the first millennium AD. in the Philippines. The jade trade between the two countries lasted at least 2,000 years, from 500 BC to 1000 AD. Finally, native Filipino artists add a large number of styles and techniques to the international jade industry. These skills and styles reach other parts of the world such as New Zealand.
Maps Philippine jade artifacts
Nephrite jade artefacts in the Philippines
Excavations in the Philippines have produced many nephrite artifacts. The first was discovered during the 1930s and 1940s, through the work of H. Otley Beyer. His excavations at sites in the provinces of Rizal, Quezon, Batangas, Bulacan and Laguna have produced thousands of white nephrite chisels and adzes. Most of these artifacts are stored at the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila.
During the 1960s and 1970s, excavations by Robert Fox at the Tabon Caves complex in northern Palawan and other nearby sites found about 350 green nephrite ornaments including earrings or lingle-o (or omega-shaped ), bracelets and beads.
More sites that generate nephrite artifacts have been dug since then. White nephrite artifacts are found on several sites including Baha and Ulilang Bundok in Calatagan, Ille Rock shelter in northern Palawan and Siargao island in Surigao del Norte. Nephrite green artifacts are also found on sites in Cagayan Valley, Cagayan, Isabela, Batangas, Masbate Island, Sorsogon and Central Palawan.
In 2004, Anaro's nephrite workshop was discovered by Peter Bellwood and Eusebio Dizon on Itbayat Island in Batanes. Some nephrite green artifacts such as adzes, ornaments and fragments found in Anaro's workshop, as well as sites on the neighboring island of Sunget and Savidug. The site is believed to be where nephrite tools and ornaments are produced, hence its name.
The origin of nephrite artifact
The oldest green nefrit artifact is a pair of bracelets found from the base of Nagsabaran in Cagayan Valley. The mineral composition of these artifacts is consistent with Fengtian nephrite and has been around 3,500-4,000 years old.
The Out-of-Taiwan theory shows that Austronesian speaking people from South China began migrating to the Philippines in 2000 BC. The first wave of migrants may have landed on the main island of Luzon or Batanes. Although it is not known whether nephrite was brought here by settlers initially or introduced through trade between the northern Philippines and Taiwan, the increase in nephrite trade between the two occurred around 1000 BC. It is certain that nephrite trading stops and the rework and reuse of nephrite tools has caused smaller artifacts to become smaller.
Lingling-o ear ornaments with lotus flower projection are used between 300 BC and 100 AD. They differ in such a way that it is designed to attract the south market. It reaches Palawan, southern Vietnam and the Niah Caves in Sarawak, eastern Malaysia. Lingling-o similar untested origin, also found in Thailand and Cambodia. This is apparently from Philippine manufacture although jade is originally from Taiwan; this is evidenced by the fact that people from southern Vietnam and the Philippines are Austronesian speakers. Both are also part of a large trading network when Southeast Asia trades with countries around the Mediterranean Sea, India and southern China some 2,000 years ago.
Mineralogy analysis
Nephrite is a rare mineral formed under unique geological conditions. There are only 120 known nephrite deposits in the world. Two types of nephrite found in the Philippines have been analyzed to determine the deposit from which they originated. Nephrite green is described as translucent green with black inclusions. Analysis of nephrite green artifacts in the Philippines has shown that it consists of amphiboles-actinolite tremolites with chrome-bearing chrome inclusions, characteristic of Fengtian nephrite whose major deposits are found in Fengtian, Taiwan. The only exception is the green adze fragment found in the Tinokod Cave in Occidental Mindoro, the source is still unknown.
White nephrites look like milk and may have reddish, black or green brown ribbons. Its composition is a tremolytic amphibole. The raw materials used have higher oxygen isotope ratios than all white nephrite sources in East Asia. This led archaeologists to believe that white nephrite artifacts originated from local deposits in the Philippines. Unfortunately, the location of this deposit has not been found.
See also
- Neolithic
- Iron Age
- Liangzhu Culture - Neolithic culture emerged in China.
- Sa Sa Culture? nh - Iron age culture emerged in South Vietnam and the Philippines.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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