Jade Culture (Philippines)

Philippine Jade Artifacts or Jade Culture made from white and green nephrite and dating as far back as 2000–1500 BC, has been discovered at a number of archeological excavations in the Philippines since the 1930s. The artifacts have been both tools like chisels, and ornaments such as lingling-o earrings, bracelets and beads.

A "jade culture" is said to have existed as evidenced by tens of thousands of exquisitely crafted jade artifacts found at a site in Batangas province.

Nephrite, otherwise known as Jade, is a mineral widely used throughout Asia as ornaments or for decorative purposes. The oldest jade artefacts in Asia (6000 BC) were found in China where they were used as the primary hardstone of Chinese sculpturing. In 3000 BC, jade production in the Hongsan and Liangzhu cultures of China reached its peak. During this period, the knowledge of jade craftsmanship spread across the sea to Taiwan and eventually to the Philippines. The artefacts discovered in several sites in the Philippines were made from nephrite. Nephrite excavated in the Philippines were of two types: white nephrite and green nephrite. Imported jade from Taiwan sparked artistic and technological innovations during the first millennium AD. in the Philippines. The jade trade between the two countries lasted for at least 2,000 years, from 500 BC to 1000 AD. Eventually, native Filipino artisans added a great amount of styles and techniques to the international jade industry. These skills and styles reached other parts of the world such as New Zealand.

Excavations in the Philippines have yielded an extensive amount of nephrite artefacts. The first were discovered during the 1930s and 1940s, through the work of H. Otley Beyer. His excavations at sites in the Rizal, Quezon, Batangas, Bulacan and Laguna provinces have yielded thousands of white nephrite chisels and adzes. Most of these artefacts are kept in the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila.

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