Precolumbian jade: New geological and cultural interpretations. Frederick W. Lange (Editor), 1993, University of Utah Press, xix + 378 pp., $45.00 (clothbound)
✍ Scribed by Rosemary A. Joyce
- Book ID
- 102221336
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1994
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 223 KB
- Volume
- 9
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0883-6353
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Press, xix + 378 pp., $45.00 (clothbound).
What do we know about the use ofjade in prehispanic Central America? The ambitious aim of this book is to answer that question, providing overviews of archaeological distribution, exemplary studies of jade objects, and competing models of raw material use, albeit with a measured advocacy of one particular model. Contributions cover the area from Mexico to Costa Rica. The intended audience is diverse, and the editor allows the multiple voices of the participants full range. Some chapters thus require substantial specialized knowledge-whether of geology, materials science, regional archaeology, or epigraphy-for full comprehension. In addition, it may be an aid to already be familiar with the summary articles, which form a quiet background for this entire volume, on the Jade Project spearheaded by Ronald Bishop.
The book includes three topical sections, each with an editorial overview, and a summary article. Geology and mineralogy are the focus of Part I, cultural contexts of Part I1 and studies of objects of Part 111. Two key issues dominate Part I. First, was there a single source of all known jade rocks in the Motagua River valley of Guatemala (Harlow), or is this but one of multiple sources (especially Bishop, Sayre, & Mishara; Bishop & Lange; Hauff; and also articles about Costa Rica by Reynoard de Ruenes and Soto)? Second, how can scholars discriminate between "true" jade and "social jade," the wide range of green stones used by these cultures, without destructive analysis of these highly valuable objects? Curtiss and H a d report on promising methods for identification of mineralogically distinct green stones. Their analyses support others that suggest that for the Classic Maya, selection of jade for the most highly valued items may have been deliberate. They and others suggest that such selection could have developed through experience with different materials and their classification in terms of aspects of workability and visual appearance.
These contributions, and the discussion of weathering by Gama-Valdes, are interesting. But the core issue for this section, for the volume as a whole, and certainly for its importance to geoarchaeology, is that of the nature and diversity of jade sources. Here, my impression was that what is crucially needed is more raw materials prospecting and analysis. Harlow's opening chapter provides an excellent summary of jade mineralogy and occurrence. His model, based on tectonics, suggests that only the Motagua valley combines the presence of major active faults, serpentinite, and other rocks that are products of massive metamorphism characteristic of known jade sources worldwide. Although he does note the complexity of the fault system of which the Motagua is part, I suspect he overestimates the actual degree of good geological (and archaeological) knowledge of other potential source areas in this system. For example, the Jocottin-Chamelech fault and the extension of the Swan Fracture Zone in the Bay Islands both involve areas of Honduras that are little known archaeologically and geologically. I wonder if we really have enough solid field data in hand to rule out the possibility of jade sources in these areas.