Early greenstone objects from Aguada Fénix, Tabasco, Mexico

Summary

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 BC. At Ceibal in the Maya lowlands, a series of caches containing greenstone objects were placed between 1000 and 700 BC. Recent investigations at Aguada Fénix add new data to this issue. Aguada Fénix is known for early monumental constructions dating to 1050-700 BC. Five caches containing greenstone objects were placed along the east-west axis of its E Group plaza around 850-800 BC. An earlier deposit of Cache 10-11 dating to 900-850 BC, however, contained pseudo-axes made of clay and no greenstone objects. These findings provide significant insights into early greenstone exchange systems and the spread of lapidary techniques.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Hidden Gems: New Research on Lapidary, Lapidarists, and Polished Stone and Shell in the Americas

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51784