As the Neolithic is a prehistoric period we have no written records, but we can learn from archaeology about people and the way they lived. Some of the most important and beautiful things made in Neolithic China come from the excavation of burials. Besides fine pottery, the most valuable objects placed in Neolithic graves were tools, weapons and ornaments made of jade.

Jade was highly prized and was reserved for making ceremonial objects. The earliest buried jades were produced about 3500 BC by the people of the Hongshan culture in the north-east. They placed large pieces of hollowed-out jade, shaped like cuffs, near the heads of their dead. 1000 years later, people of the Liangzhou culture in the south-east covered the bodies of their dead with large numbers of jade cong (square tubes with a hole through the middle) and bi (flat rings).

Jade would only have belonged to the most important people. This is clear in the case of the large, elaborately decorated jade blades of ceremonial weapons from the Longshan culture (about 2500-2000 BC). The presence of such finely worked pieces in tombs advertised the power and prestige of their occupants. Later Chinese rulers continued to be buried with jade, which was associated with preservation for eternity.