Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Lapidary -- the art of cutting, machining, grinding, and polishing hard materials such as stone and shell -- is an artform widely practiced throughout the ancient Americas. Lapidarists from the Eastern Woodlands, the American Southwest, Mesoamerica, the Isthmo-Colombian area, the Antilles, Amazonia, and the Andes all made and exchanged a variety of objects of hard stone and shell, including beadwork, mosaics, small sculptures, and carved adornments. While considerable study has been conducted on specific types of lapidary objects and on important materials including jadeite, magnetite, ilmenite, hematite, and Spondylus shell, many other lapidary objects and materials exist and merit consideration. This session explores new research on lapidary, lapidarists, and the purposes and meanings of lapidary objects produced by precolonial artisans. Examinations of new archaeological finds and explorations of little-studied materials, artifacts, and techniques are welcome, as are new hypotheses, re-examinations, and reinterpretations of well-known objects, significant materials, and previous research.
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)
- Documents (10)
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Archaeometric Study of Pyrite Tesserae Mosaics from El Caño (750–1100 CE), Panama: Evidence of Interactions between the Coclé and Maya Regions (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The study aims to identify the origin of mosaic stone tesserae mirrors discovered in El Caño, Gran Coclé (750–1100 CE). It is part of a broader research effort aimed at understanding the exchange system between the central region of the Isthmus and the northern and southern parts of the...
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The Bourne Identity: A Unique Middle Formative Jade Figure from Río Pesquero, Veracruz: Rubber Ball Game Player and/or Lapidary (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A jadeite figure in the John Bourne Collection of the Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, has previously been identified and displayed only as a representation of an Olmec ballplayer. However, an examination of its sculptural and iconographic details reveals that, rather than representing...
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Drilling into the Maize Heart of Mesoamerican Jade (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Jade dominates ancient Mesoamerican lapidary. While artists shaped the precious blue-green stone into varied forms, the quintessential jewel was a simple, round bead — bored through the center, polished to a sheen, and marked with red: either dusted with vermilion pigment or strung on a...
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Early greenstone objects from Aguada Fénix, Tabasco, Mexico (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Greenstone axes and ornaments were important objects deposited in caches at various Early and Middle Preclassic centers in southeastern Mesoamerica. Early examples come from the sites of El Manatí in the Gulf Olmec region and Cantón Corralito on the Chiapas Pacific Coast dating to 1400-1000...
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Following the source of greenstone in Mesoamerica: In the search of geological references on the southeastern border of the Olmec region (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Mesoamericans attributed mystical and magical powers as well as healing properties to Chalchihuitl, or greenstone, which also symbolized social power, beauty, water, fertility, life, perfection, and sacredness. Historical sources and archaeological contexts confirm that Mesoamerican...
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HHRXF Analysis for Preliminary Identification of Greenstones in Mesoamerica (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Identification of greenstones in the field and lab can be challenging. This paper will discuss the possibility to preliminarily distinguish greenstones elementally with the use of Handheld X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (HHRXF). While HHXRF data has some limitations and produces only...
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Mirror Realities: Reflections on Highly Polished Formative Period Objects (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A plethora of recent investigations have explored the identification, composition, manufacture, purposes, and meanings of Mesoamerican mirrors. These studies purport that the earliest mirrors were made of mica, dating as early as 1650 BCE, followed in the Early Formative period by mirrors...
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Perforation techniques of greenstone adornments in pre-Columbian Costa Rica: tools, traces and social meanings (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Celtiform pendants from pre-Columbian Costa Rica (500 BCE – 900 CE) are characterised by skilfully decorated carvings on celtiform semi-precious rocks and minerals. A human or animal face is carved on the poll of an axe, while the bit is not decorated, leaving the edge of the axe clear....
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Prestige materials and artefacts exchanged between the Maya area and the pre-columbian Costa Rica : Presentation of the MayaCosta project and its first results (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Between 500 BC and 700 AD, important quantities of iron ore mirrors and jade plaques, associated with the Maya elites and kings, were found in northwestern Costa Rica some 1000 km away from the Mayan area (BC 500 - AD 700). Since 2023, the MayaCosta Project brings together archaeologists,...
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Unique raw material and unknown perforation techniques: specificities of the lapidary production in the Ceramic Age of the Lesser Antilles (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Lapidary production is a prominent aspect of the material culture during the Early and Middle Ceramic Age in the Caribbean islands (400 BCE – 700 AD). The variety of bead and pendant types, and raw materials, is specific to this period when compared to later eras. The origin of various...