Jadeite Central Motagua Valley Guatemala

1. Jadeite Central MotaguaValley Guatemala From Taube et al. 2005

3. Cerén, El Salvador Classic period (500-700 A.D.) agricultural village Eruption of Loma Caldera approximately 630 A.D.

4. Olmec 1200-400 B.C. Maya 1000 B.C. –A.D. 1521 Aztec A.D. 1200-1521

5. The term “Jade” is borrowed from the Spanish. • The Aztec called the stone pierdayjada and believed to cure ailments. • Prior to 1910 it was believed all Jadeite found in Mesoamerica was imported from China. • In 1952 Robert Leslie documented the Motagua River Valley as the jadeite bearing region. • Since then various sourcing techniques, e.g., Raman, NAA, X-Ray diffraction, • Laser-ICP-MS, have determined great variability within the Motagua source. • To date no match between artifacts and jadeite deposits have been established. • However, researchers have recently re-discovered an outcrop of Olmec Blue jadeite.

6. Blue Jadeite Axe WorkshopsLate and Terminal Classic periods (A.D. 700-900) 2004 El ProyectoArqueológico del Jade in the Rio El Tambor drainage directed by Luis Romero, Karl Tuabeand Zach Hruby

7. Taube et al. 2005 Rio El Tambor, Motagua River Valley, Guatemala

8. Taube et al. 2005 300 ton boulder of Olmec blue jadeite

9. Taube et al. 2005 Jadeite anvil and hammer stone

10. Sawn cobble Taube et al. 2005 Jadeite production debris near alluvial boulders and outcrops

11. Jadeite preforms Taube et al. 2005

12. Motagua River Valley Jadeite bead production

13. Symbols of Early Maya Kings Middle Preclassic 800-500 B.C. Estrada-Belli et al. 2003 Cival, Peten, Guatemala Estrada-Belli et al. 2003

14. Estrada-Belli et al. 2003 Francisco Estrada-Belli with Cival cache

15. Altun Ha, Belize Jester God Sun God’s Tomb, Classic period (A.D. 600-650)

16. Taube et al. 2005 Prospectors searching for Olmec blue jadeite in Rio El Tambor after Hurricane Mitch 1998