Sculpture, Hongshan Cultuur Schedel REPLICA - 8 cm - Nefriet

Rare and intriguing 11.5 cm deep Skull Sculpture of Nephrite (often also called 'Nephrite Jade'), made by members of the Chinese Hongshan Culture, which has its origins in the Neolithic, about 4,000 years ago. REPLICA

The enigmatic sculpture weighs 1.1 kg, is 8 cm high, 8 cm wide and 11.5 cm deep, and is in good condition.

The Hongshan culture in which this sculpture was created remains shrouded in many mysteries because research into this culture is still in its early stages.

Scientists believe that the decline of this advanced culture was due to a large natural disaster of apocalyptic proportions, such as a Biblical flood, which also would have brought down the legendary vanished continent Atlantis.

Some conspiracy theorists even believe that this vanished civilization kept contact with aliens, because of the sometimes very bizarre sculptures that often look exceedingly unusual, and in some cases seem to fully align with the image people generally have of aliens...

Because the remote Hongshan archaeological site in northeastern China was only discovered and studied relatively late by Japanese (!) researchers, these finds were long ignored by the Chinese scientific elite who always assumed that the cradle of Chinese civilization lay elsewhere.

In recent years, however, this view has begun to be revised and one is tentatively admitting that the cradle of Chinese civilization does indeed lie in Hongshan (which means 'red hill' in Chinese, named after the find site).

The current rulers in China have therefore announced that the focus of scientific research into the earliest origins of Chinese civilization will increasingly shift to the aforementioned region.

Alongside this announcement, a series of books and TV documentaries are planned for the coming years to bring the Hongshan culture more to the attention of the world public. For now, only a few publications are available that provide more information.

The standard work on this field of study is written by the Scottish Professor David C. Anderson mentioned above and is titled 'Hongshan Jade Treasures: The Art, Iconography and Authentication of Carvings from China's Finest Neolithic Culture'. A very educational and richly illustrated book. However, due to the growing interest in the Hongshan Culture, the book is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.

For those who fail to obtain a copy, I recommend consulting the English-language Wikipedia page dedicated to the 'Hongshan Culture' (also available in many other languages).

There is no certainty about the exact age of this delicate sculpture, only that it bears all stylistic features of this ancient, vanished civilization.

The rare object will be shipped immediately to the buyer with a Track & Trace shipment, very well packed so that no damage can occur in transit.