2-725-648 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Ceremonial Disk (Bi), 3300-2200 BC. Archaeological discoveries have provided evidence for ancient ritual practices and cultural variations in jade carvings used as ceremonial implements. Large perforated disks such as this piece have been found at the Liangzhu cultural sites around the Yangzi River valley in present-day Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The jade disks tend to be buried in graves and placed in prominent positions with the bodies of the deceased.