Identification and source provenance of jadeite‐bearing jade axes from Ulucak Höyük, Western Anatolia

Abstract The jades from Ulucak Höyük (İzmir, Turkey) are green‐colored in hand specimen, and combined petrographic, XRD, and whole‐rock analyses indicate that they mainly comprise jadeitic clinopyroxene, characterizing them as jadeite‐bearing jades. Primitive mantle (PM)‐normalized multi‐element patterns reveal two distinct chemical groups. Both groups display depletion in Th and U; however, Group 1 shows a narrower elemental range and marked positive Pb anomaly. The second group, on the other hand, displays a wide elemental range in most elements and strong negative anomalies in Zr and Hf ([Nd/Zr] PM = 1.6–4.2; [Sm/Hf] PM = 1.8–3.5). Regarding REE systematics, both groups are characterized by weak positive slopes ([La/Yb] Ch = 1.7–5.3). However, whereas Group 1 shows coherent LREE‐enriched trends, Group 2 displays flat‐ to LREE‐enriched patterns with a wide range in Eu. When the geochemical features of Ulucak jades are compared with the high‐pressure (HP) metamorphic rocks from Turkey and Greece, the similar multi‐element patterns of Syros eclogites (Greece) to Group 2 Ulucak jades make Syros a possible source area for the Ulucak artefacts. On the other hand, the geochemical resemblance of the Sifnos jadeite‐bearing gneisses to Group 1 Ulucak jades may raise the possibility of this island being another source for the Ulucak jades.