How did Oceanic artists carve hard stone materials such as jade?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

dilly bag; Aboriginal Australian art, Northern Territory, Australia — Oceanic art and architecture An Aboriginal Australian decorating a tightly woven dilly bag with white, yellow, and ochre (red) paints, Northern Territory, Australia, 1948.

In the context of Oceanic art, the carving of hard stone materials—including jade—was a laborious and time-consuming process. Because these cultures largely utilized Neolithic technology, they did not rely on metal tools for such tasks. Instead, artists mastered the shaping of resistant materials like jade primarily through the technique of grinding with abrasives.