The use of jade in Mesoamerica for symbolic and ideological ritual was influenced by its rarity and value among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Olmecs, the Maya, and other ancient civilizations of the Valley of Mexico.

[6] During Neolithic times, the key known sources of nephrite jade in China for utilitarian and ceremonial jade items were the now-depleted deposits in the Ningshao area in the Yangtze River Delta (Liangzhu culture 3400–2250 BC) and in an area of the Liaoning province and Inner Mongolia (Hongshan culture 4700–2200 BC).

[7] Dushan Jade (a rock composed largely of anorthite feldspar and zoisite) was being mined as early as 6000 BC.

There, white and greenish nephrite jade is found in small quarries and as pebbles and boulders in the rivers flowing from the Kuen-Lun mountain range eastward into the Takla-Makan desert area.

[8] Jadeite, with its bright emerald-green, lavender, pink, orange, yellow, red, black, white, near-colorless and brown colors was imported from Burma to China in quantity only after about 1800.

In the history of the art of the Chinese empire, jade has had a special significance, comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West.

[11] Jade was used for the finest objects and cult figures, and for grave furnishings for high-ranking members of the imperial family.

[14] But because of the value added culturally to jades throughout Chinese history, the word has also come to refer more generally to precious or ornamental stones,[15] and is very common in more symbolic usage as in phrases like 拋磚引玉/抛砖引玉 (lit.

There is a theory that the reason why the meaning is that it was believed that the color of green enables the reproduction of fertility, the life, and the soul of the earth.

[16] Comma-shaped jades are found on some of the gold crowns of Silla royalty (c. 300/400–668 AD) and sumptuous elite burials of the Korean Three Kingdoms.

After the state of Silla united the Korean Peninsula in 668, the widespread popularisation of death rituals related to Buddhism resulted in the decline of the use of jade in burials as prestige mortuary goods.

The Jain temple of Kolanpak in the Nalgonda district, Telangana, India is home to a 5-foot (1.5 m) high sculpture of Mahavira that is carved entirely out of jade.

India is also noted for its craftsman tradition of using large amounts of green serpentine or false jade obtained primarily from Afghanistan in order to fashion jewellery and ornamental items such as sword hilts and dagger handles.

In addition to this region, there are also notable mines in the neighboring Sagaing District, near the towns of Nasibon and Natmaw and Hkamti.

The maritime road is one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world.

It was in existence for at least 3,000 years, where its peak production was from 2000 BCE to 500 CE, older than the Silk Road in mainland Eurasia.

Nephrite jewellery of Maori design is widely popular with locals and tourists, although some of the jade used for these is now imported from British Columbia and elsewhere.

Hunting tools include matau (fishing hooks) and lures, spear points, and kākā poria (leg rings for fastening captive birds); weapons such as mere (short handled clubs); and ornaments such as pendants (hei-tiki, hei matau and pekapeka), ear pendants (kuru and kapeu), and cloak pins.

The only source from which the various indigenous cultures, such as the Olmec and Maya, could obtain jade was located in the Motagua River valley in Guatemala.

[27] Jade was largely an elite good, and was usually carved in various ways, whether serving as a medium upon which hieroglyphs were inscribed, or shaped into symbolic figurines.

[30] Russian jade culture is closely connected with such jewellery production as Fabergé, whose workshops combined the green stone with gold, diamonds, emeralds, and rubies.

In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a strong belief among many Siberians, which stemmed from tradition, that jade was part of a class of sacred objects that had life.

[31] In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a strong belief among many Mongolians, which came from ancient tradition, that jade was part of a class of sacred objects that had life.

[31] It was not until 1863 that French mineralogist Alexis Damour determined that what was referred to as "jade" could in fact be one of two different minerals, either nephrite or jadeite.

[32] Nephrite consists of a microcrystalline interlocking fibrous matrix of the calcium, magnesium-iron rich amphibole mineral series tremolite (calcium-magnesium)-ferroactinolite (calcium-magnesium-iron).

Among the earliest known jade artifacts excavated from prehistoric sites are simple ornaments with bead, button, and tubular shapes.

In the area of Mogaung in the Myitkyina District of Upper Burma, jadeite formed a layer in the dark-green serpentine, and has been quarried and exported for well over a hundred years.