We are all familiar with the iconic jade masks of the Mayan civilization including their lovely polished stone inlay and mesmerizing stares. The use of jade was widely popular throughout Mesoamerica due to its unique color, translucence and working properties. Jade is an extremely hard stone that doesn't fracture or break easily; characteristics that made it highly favorable for fashioning into objects such as cutting tools or items of religious significance. Probably due to Jade's resemblance to plant life, its green glow and watery translucence, it is thought it was associated with the cycle of life in old cultures.
Jade artifacts have been found in the Valley of Mexico, a plateau in central Mexico and area that housed the Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec peoples. Because of the area's mild climate, archeologists estimate the area has been home to civilizations for at least 12,000 years.
Figures, weapons, beads and cutting tools (such as axes) were frequently made from the stone. There are two classifications of rock that are called jade but only one that actually exists in Mesoamerica. Nephrite Jade is an amphibole material (complex group of minerals) that was not local to the region and to date no traces of it have been found in the local geology. However, other green stones such as albitite, chrysoprase, omphacite and quartzite were also considered to be jade by the ancient peoples of the area. Today, these similarly-colored green stones are more commonly referred to as jadeite.
In 1799 a search for Mesoamerican jade sources was begun by Alexander von Humbolt, who wanted to determine if Celtic jadeite found at archeological sites in Europe shared a common source with Mesoamerican jadeite. It was discovered finally, that the jadeite found in Mexico and Central America came from distinct sources and shared no common source with the European material.
An investigation by the Mesoamerican Jade Project of Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology between 1977 and 2000 led to the discovery of the lost Olmec Blue mines on the Rio Tambor river in the province of Jalapa, Guatemala. It would appear that trade between the ancient cultures of Mexico and Guatemala existed in antiquity and Guatemala provided the source material for some of the wonders in Mexican archeological finds.
Jade artifacts have been found in the Valley of Mexico, a plateau in central Mexico and area that housed the Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec peoples. Because of the area's mild climate, archeologists estimate the area has been home to civilizations for at least 12,000 years.
Figures, weapons, beads and cutting tools (such as axes) were frequently made from the stone. There are two classifications of rock that are called jade but only one that actually exists in Mesoamerica. Nephrite Jade is an amphibole material (complex group of minerals) that was not local to the region and to date no traces of it have been found in the local geology. However, other green stones such as albitite, chrysoprase, omphacite and quartzite were also considered to be jade by the ancient peoples of the area. Today, these similarly-colored green stones are more commonly referred to as jadeite.
In 1799 a search for Mesoamerican jade sources was begun by Alexander von Humbolt, who wanted to determine if Celtic jadeite found at archeological sites in Europe shared a common source with Mesoamerican jadeite. It was discovered finally, that the jadeite found in Mexico and Central America came from distinct sources and shared no common source with the European material.
An investigation by the Mesoamerican Jade Project of Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology between 1977 and 2000 led to the discovery of the lost Olmec Blue mines on the Rio Tambor river in the province of Jalapa, Guatemala. It would appear that trade between the ancient cultures of Mexico and Guatemala existed in antiquity and Guatemala provided the source material for some of the wonders in Mexican archeological finds.
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