Callaïs

File:Callais Neolithique Musée Vannes 19082012 05.jpg

An example of a variscite "callaïs" necklace of Neolithic origin, dated 4500 - 4000 BC, found in Arzon. The necklace now located in the Musée d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de Vannes.

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.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> "Callaïs" was described by Pliny the Elder as being paler than lapis lazuli.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Callaïs objects have been found in Neolithic tombs from the mid-5th millennium BC in the Carnac region of western France.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />

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.<ref name=":1" />

References

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