Tracking neolithic interactions in southeast China: Evidence from stone adze geochemistry

The authors conducted a sourcing study of stone adzes recently excavated from the Damaoshan site on Dongshan Island, Fujian province, China. They used XRF, ICP-MS, and petrographic thin-section techniques for geochemical and petrographic analysis of six stone adzes from the site and three geological samples from Dongshan Island. The chemical data of these samples compared with other lavas in Fujian, Zhejiang, Penghu, and Taiwan suggest that the Damaoshan people imported stone raw materials either from the Penghu Archipelago in the Taiwan Strait or from the Niutoushan area on the Fujian coast. This indicates that exchange networks along the southeast coast of China, and possibly spanning the Taiwan Strait, had developed as early as 4300–5000 yr B. P. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.