gems, jade, nephrite, jadeite, fei cui, Europe, Switzerland, Italy, neolithic, archaeology, France

Carried out from 4 to 6 September 2023, the archaeological survey focused on the collection of natural blocks of serpentinite and nephrite for an experimental approach to the production of Neolithic axes by sawing with sandstone slabs. During this collection of natural blocks in secondary position, three discoveries should be noted. At Andermatt, Brunnen, a new production area for serpentinite axe roughouts of the Gurschenbach type was identified. The techniques employed — exclusively knapping and pecking — suggest a date toward the end of the fifth millennium, before the development of sawing. Part of the archaeological site was cut through by a large water-supply trench. At Andermatt, Gurschenmatt, two small tools of rock crystal — a scraper and a sidescraper made from a natural prism — were collected from the ground surface. They most likely belong to the late Mesolithic or the Neolithic. Finally, at Hospental, Sankt Annafirn, the rapid melting of the glacier made it possible to recognize new secondary deposits of the nephrite exploited by the Neolithic populations of the Zug region. It is likely that the primary deposits — still to be discovered — will now become accessible in the rocky cirque freed from the ice. This will be our research focus in 2024. An emergency intervention is in fact necessary, because maintenance work on the Gemmstock ski run continues to damage the Neolithic sites identified in recent years between 2600 and 2850 m altitude in the cirque of the Sankt Annafirn glacier.