Posted on 05/24/2002 7:14:54 AM PDT by 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.
Is that also the name of Michael Savage's 'alter ego' from his skits?
Cosmic Winter by Clube and Napier do a very good job with the celestial connection. I really liked, "Exodus To Arthur, by Mike Baillie too. He is a dendrochronologist and noted major events that were recorded in the tree ring data over the last 10k years, he then set out to see what humans had recorded during these same periods. He discovered a lot of chatter about things falling from the sky.
Obviously, the CIA memo orchestrating the impending hurricane was on GW's desk before 1998. AND HE DIDN'T WARN THE GUATEMALAN PEOPLE!!!
Just as obviously, he asked his Enron people to corner the jade market at the appropriate time. Cheney is in on it, I think. (obviously)
I really liked, "Exodus To Arthur, by Mike Baillie too. He is a dendrochronologist and noted major events that were recorded in the tree ring data over the last 10k years, he then set out to see what humans had recorded during these same periods. He discovered a lot of chatter about things falling from the sky.
Shades of Velikovski, who is still called a kook, even though his major premise is now excepted by all scientists.
Catastrophic events did indeed occur in historical times, and things really did fall from the sky.
He based his theories on folklore, myths, and the published oral histories of ancient cultures.
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We managed a trip to Tikal in Guatemala and it was indeed magnificent. The trip from Guatemala back to Belize was dangrous but we managed to get to Belize City without being robbed.
Tikal suprassses anything we have seen in Central America except Teotihuacan outside Mexico city.
Mel Gibson has a whole lot to say about the Mayans this summer:
http://apocalypto.movies.go.com/
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. In the Eastern hemisphere, history is part of the political axe-grinding stone. In the Americas, there is some politics (voir: Kennewick man), but it is far more straightforward science. To the extent that there is ethnic pride, there is no overlaying religious or political theology that tries to manipulate the result.
Blue jade is really beautiful.
>>Do you live on the site of a Colonial rock farm in New England?
Ugh, I used to do archaeology in New England. We went through so many shovels digging there.
*clang* Crap.
*clang* Crap.
*clang* Crap. My elbow hurts.
Oops, sorry, Zombie thread.
Thanks Civ; I am always fascinated by tales of megalithic-sized semi-precious stones. A few years ago I visited a turquoise deposit and the engineer told me they frequently remove 'refrigerator and pick-up sized chunks'. They mined one single piece that was made into a boardroom meeting table. Nothing like that for my visit, but they did let me fill a couple sample bags, all that would fit in my carry-on. :)
I wonder how much a turquoise refrigerator would weigh? ;') Cool color scheme, that would be.
This link has more info and images of the real blue Olmec jade:
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