ERLITOU CULTURE OR SLIGHTLY EARLIER

The present blade is similar to those discovered in the ritual pits at the Xinzhai Wenhuazui site, Henan province, see the images included by Deng Cong in Yazhang yu guojia qiyuan, Beijing, 2018, no 4. According to the research done by the Japanese archaeologist Okamura Hidenori (fig. 1), yazhang was a type of ritual object used during sacrificial rites before the Erlitou Culture. During the Erlitou Culture period, yazhang became one of the most important types of ceremonial jades.