This Nephrite Jade is from Washington State. The celt measures 5 X 2 3/8 X 3/8 inch. One of my favorite ancient artifacts is made from this material (biconically drilled beads also from Washington.) Nephrite is a soft stone and this is why I believe this item was for show rather than actual use. To give you an idea of hardness compared to other soft stones here is where they land on the Mohs scale: Soapstone 2.5 to 5, Bowenite 5 to 5.5, and Nephrite 6 to 6.5.
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Nephrite Celt
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Great looking piece. Old or new?
Hardness and toughness are different terms.
As we know hardness on the Mohs scale is more about what can scratch a material, and what that material can scratch.
Toughness is what matters on ground stone tools. There are hard materials that are brittle. You can’t scratch them but they shatter if you bump them.
You could likely whack that with a hammer and not break it. The structure of nephrite makes it a very tough stone.Last edited by clovisoid; 05-12-2019, 05:54 PM.Hong Kong, but from Indiana/Florida
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That’s beautiful man! Great job! I agree it being soft like that the originals weren’t used to do heavy duty work probably, so yes maybe ceremonial or possibly only used to chop softer substances and not wood or bone? And even then being such a fancy material only being used for specific functions?call me Jay, i live in R.I.
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