The first greenstone axe in Hungary

Abstract

Greenstone (typically, metamorphic rocks of distinctive green colour) axes were in high esteem during Prehistory. They had special prestige and were obtained from great distances. Recently, the distribution network of the probably most popular type of greenstone, jadeitite was essentially extended due to the JADE 2 project organised by P. Pétrequin (Pétrequin et alii 2017). The first jade axes from Hungary were located and described in 2013 (Szakmány et alii 2013) ; by 2015, we had located and analysed 25 items (Bendő et alii 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019). In 2018, two new pieces were added (Biró et alii 2018). Quite recently a new piece was identified, located and analysed, part of the old museum collection of the Hungarian National Museum. This historical piece is presented here with the aim to integrate it again into the circulation of international science

Keywords

• greenstone
• jade
• polished stone axe
• hungary
• petroarchaeological analysis