Jade use in Mesoamerica
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Jade use in Mesoamerica was largely influenced by the conceptualization of the material as a rare and valued commodity among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Olmec, the Maya, and the various groups in the Valley of Mexico. The only source from which the indigenous cultures could obtain jade was located in the Motagua River valley in Guatemala. Jade was largely an elite good that was highly symbolic and used in the performance of ideological rituals. It was often worked or carved in a variety of ways, either as ornamental stones, a medium upon which hieroglyphs were inscribed, or shaped into figurines, symbolic weapons, and other objects.
The general term jade refers to two separate rock types. The first is called nephrite, a calcium and magnesium rich amphibole mineral. The second is jadeitite, a metamorphic rock almost entirely composed of jadeite, a pyroxene stone rich in sodium and aluminum. The jade found in Mesoamerica consists solely of the latter (jadeite). Variation in color is largely due to variation in trace element composition. In other words, the types of trace elements and their quantities affect the overall color of the material. The “Olmec Blue” jade owes its unique color to the presence of iron and titanium, while the more typical green jade’s color is due to the varying presence of sodium, aluminum, iron, and chromium. Translucence can vary as well, with specimens ranging form nearly clear to completely opaque.
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[edit] Sources in Mesoamerica
The archaeological search for the Mesoamerican jade sources, which were largely lost at the time of the Maya collapse, began in 1799 when Alexander von Humboldt started his geological research in the New World. Von Humboldt sought to determine whether or not Neolithic jadeite celts excavated from European Megalithic archaeological sites like Stonehenge and Carnac shared sources with the similar looking jade celts from Mesoamerica (they do not).
To date, the only documented source of jadeite in Mesoamerica is in the lowland Motagua River valley. Research conducted by Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in the 1970s identified several ancient mines and alluvial sources in the mountainous areas flanking the river valley (up to an elevation of 6,000 feet). Several of the mines are connected by ancient dry-laid stone paths. From the Montagua River valley, jade was traded throughout Mesoamerica, reaching areas as distant as the Valley of Mexico and Costa Rica.
[edit] Uses
[edit] Art
Jade was shaped into a variety of objects including, but not limited to, figurines, celts, ear spools (circular earrings with a large hole in the center), and teeth inlays (small decorative pieces inserted into the incisors). Mosaic pieces of various sizes were used to decorate belts and pectoral coverings.
Jade sculpture often depicted deities, people, shamanic transformations, animals and plants, and various abstract forms. Sculptures varied in size from single beads, used for jewelry and other decorations, to large carvings, such as the 4.42 kilogram head of the Maya sun god found at Altun Ha. Jade workshop areas have been documented at two Classic Maya sites in Guatemala: Cancuen and Guaytan. The archaeological investigation of these workshops has informed researchers on how jadeite was worked in ancient Mesoamerica.
[edit] Religion
The value of jade went beyond its material worth. Perhaps because of its color, mirroring that of water and vegetation, it was symbolically associated with life and death and therefore possessed high religious and spiritual importance.
The Maya placed jade beads in the mouth of the dead. Michael D. Coe has suggested that this practice relates to a sixteenth century funerary ritual performed at the deaths of Pokom Maya lords: "when it appears then that some lord is dying, they had ready a precious stone which they placed at his mouth when he appeared to expire, in which they believe that they took the spirit, and on expiring, they very lightly rubbed his face with it. It takes the breath, soul or spirit."
The Maya also associated jade with the wind. Many Maya jade sculptures and figurines of the wind god have been discovered, as well as many others displaying breath and wind symbols. In addition, caches of four jade objects placed around a central element which have been found are believed to represent not only the cardinal directions, but the directional winds as well.
The mechanical toughness of ground stone tools made of either form of jade explains their ubiquity in most Neolithic cultures with access to sources but the aesthetic and religious significance of the various colors remains a source of controversy and speculation. The bright green varieties may have been identified with the young Maize God, but the Olmec fascination with the unique blue jade of Guatemala, and its role in their rituals involving water sources remains a mystery.
