A Mother Lode Of Jade Solves Maya Mystery

Seattle PI ^ | 5-22-2002 | William J. Broad

[blam]

A mother lode of jade solves Maya mystery

Hurricane exposes ancient mines

Wednesday, May 22, 2002

By WILLIAM J. BROAD THE NEW YORK TIMES

For half a century, scholars have searched for the source of the jade that the early civilizations of the Americas prized above all else and fashioned into precious objects of worship, trade and adornment.

The searchers found some clues to the source of jadeite, as the precious rock is known, for the Olmecs and Mayas. But no lost mines came to light.

Now, scientists exploring the wilds of Guatemala say they have found the mother lode -- a mountainous region roughly the size of Rhode Island strewn with huge jade boulders, other rocky treasures and signs of ancient mining. It was discovered after a hurricane tore through the landscape and exposed the veins of jade, some of which turned up in stores, arousing the curiosity of scientists.

The find includes large outcroppings of blue jade, the gemstone of the Olmecs, the mysterious people who created the first complex culture in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, which encompasses much of Mexico and Central America. It also includes an ancient mile-high road of stone that runs for miles through dense forests.

The deposits rival the world's leading source of mined jade today, in Myanmar, formerly Burma, the experts say.

The implications for history, archaeology and anthropology are just starting to emerge.

For one thing, the scientists say, the find suggests that the Olmecs, who flourished on the southern Gulf Coast of Mexico, exerted wide influence in the Guatemalan highlands as well.

"We were thunderstruck," said George Harlow, a jade specialist at the American Museum of Natural History. "This is the big one."

In part, the discovery is a result of the devastating storm that hit Central America in 1998, killing thousands and touching off floods and landslides that exposed old veins and washed jade into river beds.

Prospectors picked up the scraps, which found their way into Guatemalan shops and, eventually, to astonished scientists.

"'Lordy,' I said, 'this is Olmec type,'" recalled Russell Seitz, who decades earlier directed a jade hunt in Guatemala for the Peabody Museum at Harvard. "Where did it come from?"

Led by Seitz and local jade hunters, scientists scoured the forested ravines of the Guatemalan highlands for more than two years.

In the end the scientists made a series of discoveries culminating in bus-size boulders of Olmec blue jade, some astride creeks.

"It kept getting better and better," said Virginia Sisson, a geologist at Rice University, who has recently examined jades in Myanmar as well as Guatemala. The blue jade, she said, "is all over the hillsides."

The exact location is not being given, to protect the site.

[Bernard Marx]

More like! Any provenance on those pieces? They look semi-Olmec with the standard "Jaguar cleft." Very interesting.

[xcamel]

Only posted as an example of the material - BTW: the vase was a "blue jade" hand-cast checz artisan glass piece.

[blam]

Good link, thanks. These gem folks are about four years late on the news.

[blam]

"One of the things I appreciate about the Western Hemisphere discoveries is that they are usually far less political in nature than Middle Eastern, African, Chinese and European discoveries."

Could be headed that way though.

Vintage Skulls

"The oldest human remains found in the Americas were recently "discovered" in the storeroom of Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology. "

"Of additional significance is the shape of the skulls, which are described as long and narrow, very unlike those of modern Native Americans."

[Bernard Marx]

These gem folks are about four years late on the news.

Not really. Info on this find has been kicking around since the late 80s and samples of the material were showing up on the U.S. market for years before the announcement. I think they were trying to keep a lid on it to prevent large scale commercial exploitation. A Guatemalan company has been selling carvings for a long time. This piece was published in 2002 after the NYT story broke it to the world. Obviously they'd been studying it for considerable time prior.

[SunkenCiv]

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