Images

A Chinese miniature jade mask. 2nd millennium BCE. Height: 4 cm. (British Museum, London)

A Chinese jade plaque of a cormorant and fish. 1100-900 BCE. Height: 4 cm. (British Museum, London)

A Chinese cong of jade, a ritual object commonly found in tombs but of unknown function. Unknown date but probably Neolithic. Height: 12.9 cm. (British Museum, London)

A Chinese jade dragon. Zhou Dynasty, 5th-4th century BCE. Height: 9 cm. The British Museum, London.

A 19th-century illustration of Ryujin, the dragon king and sea god of Japanese mythology. Here he is chasing the princess Tamatori. National Museum, Warsaw.

Outside of West Kennet Long Barrow, Wiltshire, U.K., showing the sarsen stones of the forecourt/facade. 3,500-2,700 BCE.

The entrance of long barrow at Stoney Littleton, Somerset, U.K. 3,500-2,700 BCE.

Entrance and forecourt/facade of West Kennet Long Barrow, Wiltshire, U.K. 3,500-2,700 BCE.

A map illustrating possible sea routes used for political and cultural embassies from ancient Japan to Tang Dynasty China.

Electrum coin depicting an uncertain king of Lydia, early 6th century BCE. Obverse: Head of a roaring lion with multiple rays of the sun on its forehead. Reverse: Double incuse punch.