Greenstone (archaeology)

Greenstone is a common generic term for valuable, green-hued minerals and metamorphosed igneous rocks and stones which early cultures used in the fashioning of hardstone carvings such as jewelry, statuettes, ritual tools, and various other artifacts.

Greenstone artifacts may be made of greenschist, chlorastrolite, serpentine, omphacite, chrysoprase, olivine, nephrite, chloromelanite among other green-hued minerals.

In archaeology therefore, having a loosely applied general term is at least partially influenced by the observation that ancient cultures often used and considered these various green-hued materials as interchangeable.

[4] Greenstone objects are often found very considerable distances from the source of the rock, indicating early travel or trading networks.

A polished jadeite axe head in the British Museum (4000-2000 BCE) was found in Canterbury, Kent but uses stone from the Alps of Northern Italy, and objects from other parts of the world had travelled comparable distances to their findspots.