The linking role of the Alps in past cultures:

Neolithic polished stone axe blades, manufactured with uncommon lithologies such as Alpine eclogites, jades and other HP metaophiolites, were exploited from primary and secondary occurrences in Piemonte and Liguria and dominate the north Italian and southeast French polished stone blades used as functional tools (for deforestation and woodworking). In other European countries the same lithologies are found less frequently or only occasionally as axe blades; in northwest Europe they were frequently used for manufacturing ceremonial axes that have shapes that are not present in the Italian Neolithic tradition. The paper undertakes a preliminary examination of the case, prevalently from a petrographic point of view, comparing the Italian petroarchaeometric knowledge with the petrographic basis of the European eclogite/jade axes. A provisional picture of the distribution of these axes in Europe is provided and some interim interpretations and open problems are discussed