Callaïs Explained

Callaïs is the generic name for ancient green-blue precious stones used for making pendants and beads by western European cultures of the later Neolithic and early Bronze Age. The term includes turquoise and variscite but not jade.^{[1] [2] [3]} "Callaïs" was described by Pliny the Elder as being paler than lapis lazuli.^[4] Callaïs objects have been found in Neolithic tombs from the mid-5th millennium BC in the Carnac region of western France.

Callaïs deposits are thought to have been widely distributed throughout the Iberian peninsula, and transported from Andalusia, Castile, and Catalonia to Brittany, Normandy, and the Paris Basin.

Notes and References

1. Book: La parure en callaïs du néolithique européen . 2019 . G. Querré, Serge Cassen, Emmanuel Vigier . 978-1-78969-281-5 . Oxford . 85, 423 . 1128026690.
2. Book: Cassen . Serge . A taste for green : a global perspective on ancient jade, turquoise and variscite exchange . Petrequin . Pierre . Guirec . Querre . Grimaud . Valentin . Rodriguez-Rellan . Carlos . 2019 . Carlos Rodríguez-Rellán, Ben A. Nelson, Ramón Fábregas Valcarce . 978-1-78925-277-4 . Oxford . 122–132 . Spaces and signs for the transfer of jade and callaïs in the Neolithic of Western Europe . 1129585280.
3. Book: Rodriguez-Rellan . Carlos . A Taste for Green: A global perspective on ancient jade, turquoise and variscite exchange . Fábregas Valcarce . Ramón . Faustino Carvalho . António . Oxbow Books . Carlos Rodríguez-Rellán, Ben A. Nelson, and Ramón Fábregas Valcarce . 2019 . 978-1-78925-277-4 . Oxford, England . 77–96 . From the green belt: an appraisal on the circulation of Western Iberian variscite . 1129585280.
4. Book: Pliny the Elder . Naturalis Historia, liber xxxvii . lvi 151.