gems, jade, nephrite, nephrite axes, British museums,

After we had subjected the nephritoids of the Freiburg University Museum to a detailed examination and discussion in this journal (1885, Vol. XVII), it appeared appropriate to extend this study to other major museums as well. For, as has often been emphasized by others, only through the inclusion of all accessible material shall we finally be placed in a position to draw secure conclusions regarding this question, which since the appearance of the fundamental work of Heinrich Fischer has so vividly interested prehistorians. We directed our attention first to the British Museum because it was known to us that its prehistoric-ethnological treasures had now been made accessible in their entirety, whereas previously, owing to lack of space, a large part of them could not be inspected. Since the Department of British Antiquities has now acquired the halls formerly occupied by the natural history collections, it has been able to display appropriately its enormous wealth, particularly of ethnologically valuable objects. Especially the collection of stone axes, a large part of which had never yet passed through the hands of a mineralogist, is extraordinarily extensive. Valuable contributions concerning a great number of these objects have indeed already been made from various quarters, yet it would require a lifetime to investigate in every respect the mass of material accumulated here.

gems, jade, pyroxene jade, jadeite, fei cui, omphacite, kosmochlor, Fischer-Other

Kunz discusses jade and jadeite, their mineralogical distinctions, geographical occurrence, and use for ornamental and archaeological objects. He considers the confusion historically surrounding the term “jade,” distinguishing nephrite from jadeite and noting differences in their composition and physical properties. Attention is given to the occurrence and use of these materials in China and other regions and to the problem of determining the sources of jade objects found far from known deposits. The paper reflects the growing late nineteenth-century application of mineralogical analysis to ethnological and archaeological questions concerning jade artifacts and their distribution.

jade, nephrite, Canada, British Colombia, gems

Includes an English translation of Über Nephrit und ähnliches Material aus Alaska. With quotations and extracts from a paper by Prof. A. B. Meyer on nephrite and analogous minerals from Alaska. Canadian Record of Science 2(6), April 1887, pp. 364–379, with figures; also issued separately. The source of the nephrite was apparently boulders and pebbles found in the gravels of the Fraser River. These, together with similar materials, including pectolite, are described, along with remarks on methods of sectioning using abrasives. Dawson believed that nephrite would eventually be found in situ in British Columbia within highly altered basic rocks. Most of the article is devoted to Meyer’s paper, from which extracts are reproduced concerning nephrite artefacts collected from Indigenous peoples during various explorations in the sub-Arctic region. Meyer noted that one explorer obtained a piece of rough nephrite from a Native informant who claimed it came from northwestern Alaska, possibly from the now well-known Kobuk River source.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Rosenbusch commemorates Leopold Heinrich Fischer (1817–1886), reviewing his life, academic career, and scientific work. Particular attention is given to Fischer’s mineralogical and petrographic investigations and to his extensive studies of prehistoric stone implements, especially objects described as nephrite, jadeite, and related materials. The obituary discusses Fischer’s efforts to apply mineralogical methods to archaeological questions, including the identification and geographical distribution of jade implements, and assesses his contributions to mineralogy, petrography, and prehistoric archaeology.

gems, jade, Fischer-Book, Europe

From the compilations of discovery sites of axes made from the three minerals mentioned above¹, which I published with Mr. A. Damour in Paris in the article Notice sur la distribution géographique des haches et autres objets préhistoriques en jade néphrite et en jadéite in the Revue archéologique de France, Paris, July 1878 (23 pages), and later in a German version in the Correspondence Sheet of the German Anthropological Society, 1879, No. 3, March, pp. 17–23 (see also my Overview of Nephrite, Jadeite, and Chloromelanite Axes Found in Museums, in the Correspondence Sheet, 1880, No. 3), I have recently received, through written correspondence from Mr. Damour, a significant number of additional French discovery sites. For some of these, however, only the department could be specified, not the exact locality; this, of course, does not detract in the slightest from the importance of the findings themselves.²

jade, jadeite, fei cui, nephrite, gems

Netto and Müller discuss nephrite and jadeite in the context of South American archaeology, examining worked stone objects and the problem of identifying their mineralogical materials and geographical sources. They consider the occurrence and distribution of nephrite- and jadeite-like artifacts in South America and their implications for prehistoric trade, cultural contacts, and the movement of valued stone materials. The paper combines mineralogical identification with archaeological and ethnological evidence in an attempt to clarify the role and provenance of jade materials in South American prehistory.

Burma, jadeite, fei cui, jade, gems

Early chemical analysis of fei cui looted by the British at Mandalay Palace.

gems, jade, amphibole jade, nephrite, Europe, Poland

Traube describes the discovery and mineralogical investigation of nephrite occurring in situ at Jordansmühl in Silesia (now Jordanów Śląski, Poland), an important European occurrence because it demonstrated a natural local source for a material previously known largely from prehistoric implements and distant Asian deposits. The nephrite occurs in close association with serpentine, with the adjoining rocks showing alteration involving epidote and zoisite. Traube examines the physical, microscopic, and geological characteristics of the material and argues that the occurrence is a genuine natural nephrite deposit rather than transported material. The discovery was significant to the contemporary “nephrite question”—the debate over whether European prehistoric nephrite objects were made from indigenous stone or imported from Asia. Traube notes, however, that the Jordansmühl occurrence had only recently been exposed by deep quarrying and therefore could not itself have supplied the prehistoric nephrite implements found in Europe.

corundum, Burma.12, gems

Laurie provides a historical account of British military and political relations with Burma, concentrating on the First Burmese War of 1824–1826 and the Second Burmese War of 1852–1853, while extending the narrative through subsequent events to 1879 and the early reign of King Theebaw. Drawing on official dispatches, military narratives, and contemporary accounts, he describes campaigns, battles, diplomacy, annexations, and the development of British administration in Arakan, Tenasserim, and Pegu. The later sections broaden the work beyond military history to include information on population, revenue, commerce, communications, and the trade routes linking Mandalay, Bhamo, Yunnan, and China, as well as an assessment of the economic and strategic value of Upper Burma. Although not principally a gemological work, it provides useful historical and commercial background for understanding Burma immediately before the British annexation of Upper Burma and the subsequent opening of the country’s important ruby and jade-producing regions to intensified European investigation and trade.

gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, pyroxene jade, fei cui, Japan, archaeology

Kanda describes ancient stone implements and related archaeological objects from Japan, discussing their forms, materials, manufacture, geographical distribution, and probable uses. The work includes axes, arrowheads, ornaments, and other artifacts and compares specimens from different Japanese localities. Particular attention is given to the identification of the stones from which the objects were made, including jade and related materials, making the work relevant to the early study of Japanese jade artifacts. It provides an important nineteenth-century record of Japanese prehistoric stone objects at a formative period in the development of archaeology in Japan.