Liangzhu jade culture
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The Liangzhu Jade culture (3400-2250 BC) was the last Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze River delta of China and was spaced over a period of about 1300 years.
Its area of influence extends from Lake Tai in the north to Nanjing and Shanghai in the east and Hangzhou in the south.
The key Neolithic jade items of this culture where found in tombs near Liangzhu about 30 km north of Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province). The jade from this culture is characterized by finely-worked large ritual jades such as cong (cylinders), bi (discs), Yue axes and also pendants and decorations in the form of chiseled open-work plaques, plates and representations of small birds, turtles and fish. The Liangzhu jade has a white milky bone-like aspect due to its Tremolite rock origin and influence of water-based fluids at the burial sites.