Who is keen about jades? Evidence for socioeconomic differences between early Neolithic households at Chahai in Northeast China

Abstract

The rarity, color, hardness, and durability of jades provided them with special social, symbolic, and utilitarian value in many Neolithic communities. However, the process through which jade was transformed into objects of value in early communities and its role in household economy remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study examined these questions using household artifact data from an early Neolithic village in Northeastern China. The relationship between proxies for jade consumption and differences in various aspects of daily life, including domestic ritual, household scale, and economic production, was examined using household artifact assemblage analysis. The results indicated that some small households may have accumulated more jades than large households. Some of these households pursued jades holding ritual and religious significance, whereas others obtained durable jade tools. This initial consumption pattern may have been associated with different risk-buffering strategies stimulated by a limited household scale. The integrated evidence from Chahai offers an intriguing illustration of the potential origins of jade consumption within the matrices of households and their underlying socioeconomic dynamics. Furthermore, this may help explain the origins of jade consumption in Neolithic Northeastern China and other early complex societies.