Axes of Alpine jade from southern Scandinavia and northernmost Germany

Abstract

This short contribution summarises the present state of knowledge regarding axes of Alpine jade in southern Scandinavia. Origin, age, exchange and importance to Neolithic societies in the North are discussed and it is argued that several of the axes were genuinely deposited in southern Scandinavia during the Neolithic. These axes therefore represent Neolithic trans-European exchange. It is furthermore argued that the place of origin and circumstances of extraction of the jade itself, could have given rise to specific ritual behavior related to the life and deposition of the axes.