A rare calcified jade 'dragon' pendant, Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture | 新石器時代良渚文化　玉龍

Carved in the form of a coiled dragon with its tail curving towards the long head, this type of dragon head figure emerges during the early stage of the Neolithic Liangzhu culture. Compared to the jade dragons with large ears and wrinkly snouts typical of Hongshan culture, the present piece is highly unusual and is related to a small group of jade carvings attributed to the late stage of Songze culture or early stage of Liangzhu culture. An example of this size and similar facial features, attributed to the late Songze period, is excavated in 1995 from the Anpuqiao site, Tongxiang, Zhejiang province (M8:28); another similar but larger example was also found in 1987, see Mei-Yin Chiang, The Brief Exploration of Jade Dragon during Chinese Neolithic Age, in General Education and Transdisciplinary Research, Taipei, No.6 June, 2009, pp.77-92.

蜷曲龍形，尾部向龍首彎曲，此類造型的玉龍出現在新石器時代早期的良渚文化中。相較于紅山文化中典型的具有大耳和帶皺紋隆起狀的龍鼻的玉豬龍，這種造型的玉龍更為罕見，與松澤文化晚期或良渚文化早期的玉雕相類。一件相似尺寸並具類似面部特徵的玉龍，被斷為松澤文化晚期，於1995年在浙江省桐鄉市普安橋遺址（M8:28）出土；另一個較大的類似例子則在1987年被發現，參見蔣美音，〈中國新石器時代玉龍的初探〉，載於《通識教育與跨領域研究》，臺北，2009年6月第6期，頁77-92。