PRE-COLUMBIAN “JADE”: TOWARDS AN IMPROVED IDENTIFICATION OF GREEN-COLORED STONE IN MESOAMERICA

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Abstract
The discovery of Pre-Columbian artifacts manufactured from green-colored stone is a noteworthy event within Mesoamerican archaeology, made even more significant as size and aesthetic value of the objects increase. Unfortunately, it is all too common that the color of such artifacts is used as a deciding factor in their identification and categorization. The lumping of green-colored artifacts into one category — that of “jade” or “greenstone” — is often the end of the material identification process, regardless of the fact that there are numerous different green-colored minerals found in different sources throughout Mesoamerica. The justification for merging these very different geological products stems from the fact that they were used in very similar ways throughout Mesoamerica and Lower Central America. However, the advent of portable techniques for elemental analysis has removed some of the difficulty and high costs that have traditionally inconvenienced the identification of green-colored artifacts, and can be used in combination with visual identification studies to improve accuracy of analyses.

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