gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology, lapidary, trade

The focus of this paper is to update the Iberian jade axe database with new unpublished data and the archaeometric characterization (Raman and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy) of five jade axes from the northern Meseta of Spain. These data are used to test the hypothesis proposed by other authors suggesting that during the fifth and fourth millennia BCE there existed a directional exchange of sociotechnic artefacts between Brittany, France (repolished Alpine jade axes), and the western Iberian Peninsula (variscite ornaments mined in Zamora and Huelva). Archaeometric data demonstrate a supra-peninsular exchange network for the axes, based on the Alpine origin of the jade. In addition, previously unresolved archaeological questions are analysed together, including: 1) the typologies of Breton and western Iberian jade axes and variscite ornaments; 2) the exchange dynamics of other sociotechnic artefacts in central Iberia; and 3) the correlation between the distribution of jade axes, variscite sources, and variscite beads. In the authors’ view, the available evidence suggests that, rather than reflecting a model of “directional trade,” green sociotechnic objects—jade and variscite—reflect a decentralized “down-the-line/prestige chain” model.