Page 116 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

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Jade and bone hair ornament inlaid stratum, unheralded at other contemporary late
with turquoise Neolithic sites in the Central Plains area.
1
The ornament exhibited here was designed
5
Length 22.5 (8 A) to be pinned in the hair. It combines in a fanciful
Neolithic Period, Taosi Longshan Culture display a variety of precious materials, including
(c. 2500-2000 BCE) nephrite and turquoise. The polished bone stem
From Taosi, Xiangfen, Shanxi Province
is surmounted by a spherical section inlaid with
The Institute of Archaeology, CASS, Beijing turquoise chips and further embellished by a wedge
of white jade through the center, which projects
None of the objects associated with the Taosi cul- beyond the sphere on one side. Mounted at the
ture speaks quite so eloquently of the refined and top of the sphere is an upright finial of pale olive
courtly ambiance surrounding the elite members of green jade with a pointed extension above. The
these communities as do the personal ornaments. final element of the assemblage is a slender rec-
In a direct and intimate way these ornaments reveal tangle of the same olive green nephrite, which
the dimension of a wealthy and high-status social would originally have been fastened in place by

115 | TAOS I LONCSHA N CULTUR E