The Liangzhu culture of the lower Yangtze River region began producing finely worked jade objects, including ritual discs known as bi and tubes known as cong, in the late fourth millennium BCE. Because suitable jade sources were limited and often distant from many settlements, archaeologists infer that raw material and finished jade objects moved through exchange networks connecting riverine communities across the region. The craftsmanship and spread of these objects also suggest specialized jade-working knowledge traveled alongside the material itself.
Relevance to Trade History
An early East Asian example of exchange networks carrying both raw materials and specialized craft knowledge, a pattern that recurred in later Chinese Bronze Age trade.
Read the full story in our article How Early Communities Exchanged Goods Before Currency.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre. See our Sources & Methodology page for how we select and verify references.