By Cara Tremain (2011)
The term ‘jade’ does not refer to a single stone, but to both nephrite and jadeite. Jadeite is rarer than nephrite, with only nine occurrences known worldwide. It is also slightly harder, less translucent, and more mottled than nephrite. In Mesoamerica, only jadeite is found.
The Spanish are thought to have referred to jadeite as piedra de Yjada -from which the modern term derives. Jade is also used as a collective term for other green and blue stones found throughout Mesoamerica. The best-known Mesoamerican jadeite is apple or emerald green coloured, although a bluish-green jadeite often occurs in Olmec artefacts. The green colour of jade is thought to have been associated with life, water, and vegetation (especially maize).
After the Spanish conquest, knowledge of jade sources was lost and it was not until the discovery of jadeite rocks in the Motagua River Valley in 1952 that Guatemala was recognized as a source of jade. The variety of jadeite colour in Mesoamerica has led some to argue there are different sources, but as yet none have been found. Jadeite from the Motagua valley travelled over wide distances in Mesoamerica as a trading commodity, and has been found in Honduras and even Costa Rica.
The earliest evidence for the use of jadeite occurs in the Olmec area in the Middle Formative period, but the earliest use of greenstone in Mesoamerica occurs as beads in the Barra phase (around 1500BC) on the Pacific coast of Chiapas. Jade was manufactured by sawing with string and a cutting agent, or with a drill, and polished using a fine abrasive. In addition to its decorative use, jade was used as currency throughout Mesoamerica. Artifacts manufactured from jadeite are ideal for scientific investigation because the stone is formed under rare conditions, and artifacts can often be traced to raw material sources in a specific geographic location.
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