Jadeite and Exotic Greenstones in the Huastec: The Mayan Style Lapidary Prestige Goods at Rancho Aserradero and Tamtoc

Summary

The archaeologist of INAH recovered hundreds of lapidary items at Tamtoc and Rancho Aserradero. Among these pieces, there are glossy greenstone objects restricted to the burials of both sites. The chemical composition and mineralogical characteristics of them with Micro-Raman, XRF, and FTIR, allowed us to identify two exotic raw materials, jadeite and green quartz from the Motagua Valley in Guatemala. Also, with the technological analysis of their manufacturing traces with Experimental Archaeology and Scanning Electron Microscopy, these objects showed a foreign lapidary style that shares the tools and techniques detected on Mayan jewelry, especially jadeite pieces, and differs with the Huastec lapidary technology. Based on these results, we could infer the symbolic employment of these exotic greenstones in the burials as long-distance prestige goods for the elite members. Also, these are the northernmost confirmed jadeite pieces found in Mesoamerica, opening new researches about the acquisition, production, and distribution of luxury items in Ancient Mexico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Origin and Development of the Precolumbian City of Tamtoc, in the Huasteca Potosina, Mexico: Recent Investigations

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15317