Ancient Greenstone Mosaic Masks from the Central Maya Lowlands of Guatemala: A Contextual and Technological Study

Summary

To date, nine greenstone mosaic masks (GMM), recovered in eight royal and one elite interment, have been found in association with other grave goods belonging to ancient Maya individuals from Tikal, El Zotz, and El Perú-Waka’. Nearly 1,000 tesserae compose these nine GMM, however to date it is unknown what the mosaic masks originally looked like as these were found unassembled. Nonetheless, prior to carrying out preliminary reintegration and restoration projects, a manufacturing study was deemed necessary. This paper presents the technological analyses carried out to determine the material of the tools used to create each tessera. This analysis is based on scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations of selected sectors of the tesserae. By comparing the SEM observations of contemporaneous greenstone materials obtained from experimental archaeology processes, I expect to identify manufacturing signatures that could suggest one or multiple traditions of GMM production. In addition, the contextual information of the GMM that could provide insights about the socio-political dynamics in the Central Maya Lowlands during the Early and Late Classic periods (A.D. 350 – 750) will be covered in this paper.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• A Material World: Collaborative Research in Art, Archaeology, and Materials Science in the Study of the Ancient Americas

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15258