A Few Considerations Regarding Jade Circulation during the Aztec Period

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Approaches to Cultural and Biological Complexity in Mexico at the Time of Spanish Conquest" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

It is well a known fact among researchers that the only confirmed jade deposits in Mesoamerica are found in the middle Motagua Valley in Guatemala. This gem’s brightest shades of green were the most appreciated among Mesoamerican people, yet, barely three hundred objects made with emerald green jadeite were recovered from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Since it was the more important hegemonic center of the Mexican Highlands during the Late Postclassic (1350-1521 a. D.), the lack of this stone within the sacred enclosure of the Aztec capital is particularly striking. Previous technological studies established that almost the entirety of the objects were made in the Maya area, while only two were crafted according to imperial standards. This leads us to reconsider the origins of these jades, their possible trade routes and which groups had control of this precious goods. Did the Mexica obtained jade as raw material, were they elaborated by contemporaneous Maya groups or were they relics from ancient times?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Approaches to Cultural and Biological Complexity in Mexico at the Time of Spanish Conquest

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24810