gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, nephrite

Netto discusses two related archaeological problems from Brazil: the elaborate prehistoric ceramics of Marajó Island and the occurrence of nephrite and jadeite artifacts in South America. Drawing upon objects collected in the Amazon region, he considers worked green stones particularly important evidence for understanding the origins and movements of indigenous American populations and asks whether nephrite and jadeite occurred naturally in the Amazon basin or had been transported there from elsewhere. His interpretation formed part of the contemporary debate over whether similarities in jade objects could demonstrate ancient migrations or contacts between Asia and the Americas. At the Congress, this argument was challenged by Rudolf Virchow and others, who emphasized the widespread occurrence and varying composition of nephrite and jadeite and therefore questioned their value as evidence for transcontinental migration.