The technology of jades excavated at the Western Zhou, Jin Marquis cemetery, Tianma-Qucun, Beizhao, Shanxi province: recognition of tools and techniques

► The technology of nephrite jades from a late Bronze Age cemetery in China is investigated using scanning electron microscopy. ► Non-rotary rigid saws with long straight working edges and broader files were used with abrasives to shape jades. ► The finest saws were c. 0.5 mm thick. ► Non-rotary pointed stone tools were used to incise jades. ► The rotary tools included solid and tubular drills and lathes on which jades were mounted for shaping.