Over 100 axe heads made from jadeitite quarried in northern Italy in the Neolithic era have been found across the British Isles.[1][2] Because of the difficulty of working this material, all the axe heads of this type found are thought to have been non-utilitarian and to have represented some form of currency or be the products of gift exchange.[3]
References
Notes
^"Jadeite axe". British Museum. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
^"Jadeite axe-head". Wiltshire Museum. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
^Barker, Graeme (1999). Companion encyclopedia of archaeology. New York: Routledge. p. 378. ISBN 0-415-21329-0.
Sources
Harlow, G.E., Jadeitites, albitites and related rocks from the Motagua Fault Zone, Guatemala, Journal of Metamorphic Geology 12 (1), 49–68 (1994)
Sorensen et al., "The origin of jadeitite-forming subduction-zone fluids: CL-guided SIMS oxygen-isotope and trace-element evidence", American Mineralogist, Volume 91, pages 979–996 (2006)
Sorensen, S. S, "Geochemistry of a Jadeitite-Serpentine Contact, Guatemala" Archived 2016-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, Geological Society of America (GSA) 2005 Annual Meeting