The Jade Kingdom

Jade towers above all other hardstone carving ma- century or two) diamond cutting tools were intro- terials-rose quartz, aventurine, agate, rock crystal, duced into China, or where the high-quality jade bloodstone, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and the rest-in found in ancient pre-Columbian sites was mined- both long-term popularity and sustained value. In may never be answered. An increasing effort has spite of its intensive exploitation under widely been made, however, to pull together evidenc...