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This is a Palenque this is where the Nobles and important people were.

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Interesting facts about Maya civilization government - Kings, Nobles, Priests and Laws

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ancient maya civilization daily life - story for kids

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These are the Mayan slaves they work and do work like rubbing the rulers feet and cleaning and stuff like that.

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King Pacal built a temple to record his achievements.

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Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
The archaeological site of Palenque in the state of Chiapas is one of the most outstanding Classic period sites of the Maya area, known for its exceptional and well conserved architectural and sculptural remains. The elegance and craftsmanship of the construction, as well as the lightness of the sculpted reliefs illustrating Mayan mythology, attest to the creative genius of this civilization.

The city was founded during the Late Preclassic, which corresponds to the beginning of the Christian era. Its first inhabitants probably migrated from other sites in the nearby region. They always shared the cultural features which define the Maya culture, as well as a level of development that allowed them to adapt to the natural environment. After several centuries, ca. 500 A.D., the city rose to be a powerful capital within a regional political unit. Without a buffer zone the total area of the archeological site is 1780 hectares, 09 areas and 49 square meters and 1,400 buildings have been recorded, of which only about 10% have been explored.

Palenque has been the object of interest of numerous travelers, explorers and researchers since the 18th century. It illustrates one of the most significant achievements of mankind in the American continent. The ancient city has a planned urban layout, with monumental edifices and some of the largest clearings found in all the Maya area. Numerous residential areas with habitation units, funerary, ritual and productive activity areas were placed around the administrative and civic ceremonial centre. The palencano style is unique for its high degree of refinement, lightness and harmony. It includes buildings with vaulted roofs upon which pierced crestings emphasized its height. Its architecture is also characterized by its interior sanctuaries and modeled stucco scenes found on its freezes, columns, walls, crests, as well as ogival vaults, vaulted halls connecting galleries and T-shaped windows, among other unique architectural features. The sophisticated architectural designs and the rich decoration reflect the history and ideology of the ruling class and incorporate the writing and calendaric systems. The architecture of the site is integrated in the landscape, creating a city of unique beauty.

Criteria (i): Palenque is an incomparable achievement of Mayan art. The structures are characterized by a lightness which resulted from the new construction techniques and drainage methods that were developed in order to reduce the thickness of the walls. The expanded interior space, multiple openings, and the use of galleries give the architecture a rare elegance, richly decorated with sculptures and stucco of a type never previously seen.

Criteria (ii): The influence exerted by Palenque was considerable throughout the basin of the Usumacinta, extending even as far away as Comalcalco, on the western border of the Mayan cultural zone.

Criteria (iii): Palenque bears a unique testimony to the mythology and the rites of the Mayas, notably in the incredible number of sculpted reliefs on interior walls of the palaces and temples.

Criteria (iv): Older than the ensemble at Tikal, whose major monuments were constructed a hundred years later, the group of ceremonial buildings at Palenque is an outstanding example of a ceremonial and civic site corresponding to the middle of the Classic period in the Maya area.
Integrity
Once the ancient city of Palenque was abandoned around the 9th century, the thick jungle surrounding it covered its temples and palaces. This vegetation largely protected the buildings and their elements from looting. Furthermore, the fact that the area remained uninhabited, from its abandonment until the Colonial period, aided the protection of the site's integrity.

Residential areas, buildings with political and administrative functions, as well as those whose function was ritual are conserved in their original setting, turning the site with its exceptional artistic and architectural features into a living museum.

All elements to convey the Outstanding Universal Value of the property have been preserved. However, there are a number of threats to these conditions, including the decay of the material fabric and the presence of uncontrolled informal vending within the site and the growing number of visitors - which today reaches 600,000 per year. These threats require sustained attention so that the conditions of integrity are maintained and no additional impacts are derived from excessive use or inadequate infrastructure development to provide services.
Authenticity
As in the case of the site's integrity, the authenticity of the site and its elements was protected by the dense vegetation and the fact that the city was abandoned already in pre-Hispanic times. Furthermore, factors like the choice of durable raw materials and high quality manufacturing techniques aided in the conservation of the material culture of Palenque and in conserving the form and design of the property.

Although exploration at the site had started much earlier, the first maintenance work on the monuments at Palenque was not undertaken until around 1940. Now maintenance has to be incessant in order to avoid negative impacts caused by climatic factors and/or vegetation, which pose constant threats. Conservation interventions that have largely utilized original materials have not compromised the overall authenticity of the property but care needs to be exercised to define the extent of interventions and the use of compatible materials.
Protection and management requirements
The principal authority responsible for the protection of the archaeological site is the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (CONANP). The latter is in charge of the conservation of the natural resources within the area of the National Park, which is protected since 1981. In 1987 UNESCO recognized the archaeological site as World Heritage and in 1993 the site was declared an Archaeological Monument by the Mexican Federal Government, so as to be protected under the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historic Monuments and Sites.

Nevertheless, much work remains to be done in order to effectively ensure the protection and conservation of the World Heritage property in the long term. Currently, measures regarding its protection are considered in the Planning project for the management of heritage sites, which seeks the participation of all the actors involved in the conservation, protection, research and promotion of the site, since it is they who live and act in its immediate context. This strategic planning incorporates a long-term view, attention to global issues in the future scenarios and the real possibilities of projecting the conservation beyond the daily activities in the operation and administration of the site.

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Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque

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A prime example of a Mayan sanctuary of the classical period, Palenque was at its height between AD 500 and 700, when its influence extended throughout the basin of the Usumacinta River. The elegance and ...

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The Maya have lived in Central America for many centuries. They are one of the many Precolumbian native peoples of Mesoamerica. In the past and today they occupy Guatemala, adjacent portions of Chiapas and Tabasco, the whole of the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and the western edges of Honduras and Salvador. The Maya speak many different languages, as, for instance, Quiché and Cakchiquel of the highlands, and Chol, Choirti, and Yucatecan of the lowlands to name only some. They generally possess a common physical type, and they "share many cultural characteristics, such as common, native deities, similar cosmological beliefs, and the same calendar. There is a strong case for peoples of a Maya heritage having occupied Guatemala and the immediately surrounding territories for the past four thousand years.

Their history over these four millenia is one of remarkable advance and achievement. Traditionally hunters and food-collectors, about 2000 B.C. These ancient native Guatemalans began to become primarily dependent upon agriculture. Maize was their principal staple, supplemented by native beans and other cultigens. The earliest sedentary village communities were small, consisting of a dozen or so houses. The art of pottery-making was known although the products were relatively simple. Cotton and other fibers were woven. Tools and weapons were of stone. Religious or ritual paraphernalia was simple - pottery figurines and simple incensarios. Archaeologists find the earliest examples of specialized architecture in these villages. At first, platforms or buildings were relatively small but later some of these are of a size to suggest that they were corporate labor constructions.

After 1000 B.C., Maya society began to evolve from a simple egalitarian one to a more complex and non-egalitarian order. Large and elaborate pyramids and platforms were constructed. These represent mass labor operations under centralized direction. Sophisticated architectural features made their first appearances: balustraded stairways, plinths and apron-moldings on terraces, and the corbelled vault. Major buildings, the palaces and temples of an aristocratic ruling class, occurred in major centers - the often referred to "ceremonial centers," "politico-religious centers," or "cities" of the Maya. Major centers were so spaced geographically that it is reasonable to believe that they were the "capitals" of territorial polities. Within their respective territories were small villages where, presumably, much of the supporting peasant population resided. With this increased settlement, and inferred socio-political complexity came other significant cultural changes. Ceramics grew more complex. Elite or upper-class burials became differentiated by valuable grave goods as well as by specialized tomb construction. Among the elite grave goods, as well as in other elite contexts, were exotic items brought into these centers from coastal locations or, in the case of lowland sites, from the distant highlands. Trade, organized by and in the hands of the elite, became a major institution.

Foreign stimuli can be detected in the particular forms of the cultural elaborations. Olmec influences were assimilated into the emerging Maya civilization. The ways and routes by which this took place are complicated and still not fully understood. It is important to make clear, however, that this was no simple transference of a complete Olmec or a complete Highland-Pacific cultural system to the Lowland Maya. Stimuli were provided, but the ideas so passed were reworked and emerged quite differently. They became fully Mayanized, and in the artistic and intellectual realms the Lowland Maya far exceeded any other peoples.

Maya intellectual activity includes a long and ancient record of literate accomplishments as evidenced by the Dresden Codex and a few other Precolumbian Maya manuscripts. These native American books, in which the only true writing of the Precolumbian world is recorded, were prepared on bark paper and written in brush strokes which present hieroglyphic texts dealing with histories, astronomical observations, and astrological prophecies. Hieroglyphic texts, too, are found carved in stone on major buildings and on the stone stelae or dedicatory markers set up to commemorate Maya rulers and the events of their reigns. Experts are now able to tell us of births, accessions to thrones, wars, and deaths of rulers and their families. Calendrics, astronomy, and mathematics were highly developed. Several calendars, including a knowledge of a 365 day (plus a fraction) year, a Venus year, a 260 day period, and a day count of time beginning back at a mythical starting point in 3114 B.C. were maintained. Astronomical observations were carried out over long periods of time, enabling the Maya to predict such events as solar eclipses. To cite only one example of mathematical sophistication, the Classic Maya had developed the concept of zero and possessed a sign for it which is recorded on their calendrical inscriptions.

In the fourth century A.D. the Maya, both at their greatest city or center of the lowlands, Tikal, in the Guatemalan Petén, and at Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemalan highlands, were in some way profoundly influenced by Teotihuacan and its civilization, based in the Central Mexican highlands. The Maya assimilated new ideas, new traits, and, perhaps for a time, new rulers, but reasserted their own cultural integrity after the wave of Teotihuacan influence had passed.

Between A.D. 600 and 800, the Classic Maya civilization reached its zenith, in population numbers, numbers of ceremonial centers and general architectural and artistic elaboration. Virtually all of the centers or cities that had once flourished continued in use and, in addition, many new centers came into being.

Shortly after A.D. 800, the Maya of the southern lowlands entered upon an era of troubles. The causes for this are not altogether clear, but there can be little doubt that they involved competition and conflicts with Mexican peoples to the west and north. Probably, Maya-speaking peoples of Gulf Coast Tabasco were involved - tribes which had been in contact with their Mexican neighbors for a longer time and who had acquired some of their more warlike customs. Gradually, between A.D 800 and 900, the old centers and cities of the southern lowlands, such as Tikal and its neighbors, were deserted. For awhile power seems to have shifted to northern Yucatan. After about A.D. 1200, there was a Maya revival of sorts, focused on a new city, Mayapan.

When the Spaniards arrived in Yucatan in the early 16th century the area was, however, completely Maya-speaking. Some Toltec or Central Mexican place names remained, but the alien incursions of a few centuries before had been absorbed. The highlands, too, suffered some Mexican incursions. Here, again, Mayan traditions, peoples, speech, and ancient customs prevailed - as they do even today.

We see in the Maya heritage a remarkable cultural unity and integrity that has been maintained over a sizable territory (the present national state of Guatemala and portions of bordering states) for almost 4,000 years. During that time the Maya built one of the most brilliant Precolumbian civilizations of the Americas. They were a notably non-expansionistic, self-contained people. Unlike some of the Mesoamerican neighbors, they were not interested in empires. They were frequently impinged upon by others - the Teotihuacans and the Toltecs and the imperialistic Aztecs and the Spanish. But, in their own way, they resisted all of these imperialisms, rejecting some things completely, absorbing others, and reworking still other traits and ideas of their invaders to conform to their own Maya traditions. As their wise men wrote in the books of the Chilam Balam, they looked upon-all of these outlanders as vulgar barbarians, like plagues to be endured, but they were always firm in their conviction that, despite foreign evils, they, the Maya, would persist.

Article copyright Cultural Survival, Inc.

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The Maya have lived in Central America for many centuries. They are one of the many Precolumbian native peoples of Mesoamerica. In the past and today they occupy Guatemala, adjacent portions of Chiapas and Tabasco, the whole of the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, and the western edges of Honduras and Salvador.

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Home " Gemstones " Jade

Jadeite and nephrite are materials that have both been called "jade" for thousands of years.

Author: Hobart M. King, PhD, GIA Graduate Gemologist

What is Jade?

"Jade" is a cultural term used for a very durable material that has been fashioned into tools, sculptures, jewelry, gemstones, and other objects for over 5,000 years. It was first used to manufacture ax heads, weapons, and tools for scraping and hammering because of its toughness.

Then, because some specimens had a beautiful color and could be polished to a brilliant luster, people started to use jade for gemstones, talismans, and ornamental objects. Although most people who think of jade imagine a beautiful green gemstone, the material occurs in a wide variety of colors that include green, white, lavender, yellow, blue, black, red, orange, and gray.

Table of Contents

Are All Jades the Same?

Originally, all jade objects were thought to be made from the same material. However, in 1863 a Frenchman, Alexis Damour, discovered that the material known as "jade" could be divided into two different minerals: jadeite and nephrite.

Because these two materials can be difficult to distinguish, and because the word "jade" is so entrenched in common language, the name "jade" is still widely used across many societies, industries, and academic disciplines.

In this article, the word "jade" will be used for undifferentiated materials. "Jadeite" or "nephrite" will be used when the identity of the material is known. The word "nephrite" is also an imprecise term. It is used for materials composed of the minerals actinolite and tremolite.

Streak
Colorless.

Colorless.

Luster
Vitreous to sugary.

Vitreous, greasy, silky, waxy.

Mohs Hardness
6.5 to 7

6 to 6.5

Chemical Formula
NaAlSi ₂O ₆ or Na(Al,Fe ³⁺)Si ₂O ₆

Ca ₂(Mg,Fe) ₅Si ₈O ₂₂(OH) ₂

Refractive Index
1.66 to 1.68
(1.66 spot)

1.60 to 1.63
(1.61 spot)

Jadeite, Nephrite, and Science

Jadeite and nephrite have distinctly different mineral compositions. Jadeite is an aluminum-rich pyroxene, while nephrite is a magnesium-rich amphibole. However, the two minerals have very similar physical properties in the eye of the average person.

Only trained observers with significant experience are able to reliably differentiate them without mineral testing equipment. This is why jadeite and nephrite were not properly distinguished by scientists until 1863.

Experienced gemologists can easily separate jadeite from nephrite in small polished items such as beads and cabochons. There are significant differences in their refractive index and specific gravity.

Jadeite, Nephrite, and Artisans

Chinese craftsmen have been producing jade objects for over 5,000 years. A few hundred years ago, master Chinese craftsmen who worked with jade daily recognized that some of the jade obtained from Burma (now the Union of Myanmar) was different. It was harder, denser, worked more easily, and produced a higher luster upon polishing. It gradually became the form of jade preferred by Chinese artisans and the jade most highly prized by the Chinese people. They realized this long before scientists differentiated jadeite and nephrite in 1863.

Unknowingly, Chinese craftsmen had distinguished jadeite from nephrite and appreciated it enough to pay premium prices for jadeite. However, they didn't have the knowledge and equipment of chemistry and crystallography to distinguish them in a formal way.

Rarely, the Chinese craftsmen encountered fine-grained jadeite with a bright translucence and a rich, uniform green color. This beautiful material was given the name "Imperial Jade" and regarded as the stone of highest quality. At that time in China, ownership of Imperial Jade was reserved only for the Emperor. Now, anyone who can afford it can own Imperial Jade. The best specimens can cost more per carat than high-quality diamonds.

Jade Types and Treatments

For thousands of years, the people who manufacture and sell jade objects have found many ways to improve their appearance. Heat, wax, dye, bleach, acid, polymer injection and other treatments have all been used to improve the color, luster and stability of jadeite and nephrite. Although many of these treatments are part of traditional jade manufacturing processes, today's serious buyers of jade want to know about all treatments that were used in the manufacturing process.

Commercial jadeite objects are placed into three "types" according to the treatments that have been used during the manufacturing process. They are designated as Type A, Type B and Type C jadeite.

Type A Jadeite

Type A jadeite objects have been treated with a coating of wax. This is the most traditional jadeite treatment. It is expected and accepted by serious buyers and generally does not impact the value of a jadeite object. In this treatment, manufacturers boil finished jadeite objects in water to clean them and prepare them for an application of wax. The objects are then dried and dipped into molten wax. The wax fills any surface-reaching pores and fractures. When the objects have cooled, excess wax is removed and the objects are buffed to a bright luster. The wax fills surface irregularities and gives the object's surface a smooth, lustrous finish.

Type B Jadeite

Type B jadeite objects have been bleached by soaking in hydrochloric or sulfuric acid. The acid removes oxidation stains and leaches out sodium. This lightens the color of many materials. Pressure is then used to impregnate the jadeite with wax or a clear polymer resin. Impregnation fills all surface-reaching pores and fractures and gives the object an improved smoothness, luster and color.

Unfortunately, the appearance of Type B jadeite objects can begin to deteriorate in just a few years. Acid treatment makes some jadeite brittle, and polymer resins can discolor with time or exposure to heat and sunlight. Because of these problems, Type B jadeite treatment should always be disclosed when an object is sold, but many items are sold without disclosure. This lack of disclosure is because Type B jadeite objects normally sell for a small fraction of the price paid for a similar Type A object. Sellers often get away with nondisclosure because Type B treatments are difficult to detect. Testing at a gemological laboratory is often required for detection of Type B treatments.

Type C Jadeite

Type C jadeite usually has all of the treatments of Type B jadeite, but the object has also been dyed to a more desirable color. The dyes can fade over time or with exposure to heat and light. For these reasons, Type C treatments should always be disclosed.

Dye treatment can often be detected by examination with a microscope, spectroscope or gemological filters, but this testing should not be needed - the seller should disclose the full extent of treatment for every object that is sold. Disclosure doesn't always happen because Type C jadeite sells for a small fraction of similar objects with Type B treatment.

Type C objects should be purchased for a price that assumes temporary use for a few years. Anyone who spends the serious money on jade should know the difference between jadeite and nephrite, have a good knowledge of jadeite treatments, how they impact value, and how they impact future durability and appearance. Confirmation of the jadeite type by a gemological laboratory is a good idea for expensive items. These services are easy to obtain and usually cost a tiny fraction of what is paid for a Type A jadeite item.

Jade Misnomers

A "misnomer" is an incorrect name. In the gemstone trade many misnomers have been given to materials that look like a more popular or more valuable material even though that name is incorrect. The use of a misnomer can be innocent or derogatory, but the intent is often to associate a product with one that is much more popular or more valuable. Even when done without deceptive intent, the practice can be confusing or misleading to many buyers.

An example of a jade misnomer is the use of the name "Mexican jade" for the green-dyed calcite or travertine that is commonly used to produce vases, chess pieces, desk sets and other ornamental objects. Use of the name by a seller in the presence of potential customers can be misunderstood or deceptive.

In July 2018, the Federal Trade Commission of the United States published a new edition of their Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries. In those guides they state that the use of an incorrect varietal name can be "misleading", "unfair", and "deceptive". Today sellers who continue using these incorrect names could face legal action. For more information, see our article about "green amethyst" and "yellow emerald". A few of the many jade misnomers are listed below.

"African Jade" - a massive variety of green grossularite garnet found in the Transvaal Province of South Africa

"Amazon Jade" - amazonite, a blue-green microcline feldspar

"American Jade" - californite, a variety of vesuvianite

"Bowenite Jade" - a variety of serpentine resembling nephrite

"Garnet Jade" - a massive variety of green grossularite garnet

"Honan Jade" - a name used for a variety of jade substitutes including jade in quartz, serpentine, soapstone

"Mexican Jade" - green-dyed calcite or greenish travertine

"Indian Jade" - aventurine quartz

"Korean Jade" - a variety of jade look-alikes including glass, soapstone and serpentine

"Manchurian Jade" - soapstone

"Oregon Jade" - green jasper, green grossularite or other jade look-alikes found in Oregon

"Serpentine Jade" - varieties of serpentine that look like jade

"Soochow Jade" - name used for a variety of jade substitutes including jade in quartz, serpentine, soapstone

"South African Jade" - green grossularite found in the Transvaal Province of South Africa

"Transvaal Jade" - green grossularite found in the Transvaal Province of South Africa

Early Use of Jade in Tools

People have used jade for at least 100,000 years. The earliest objects made from jade were tools. Jade is a very hard material and is used as a tool because it is extremely tough and breaks to form sharp edges.

Most jade does not have a color and translucence that is expected in a gemstone. However, when early people found these special pieces of jade, they were often inspired to craft them into a special object.

"Toughness" is the ability of a material to resist fracturing when subjected to stress. " Hardness" is the ability of a material to resist abrasion. Early toolmakers took advantage of these properties of jade and formed it into cutting tools and weapons. It was used to make axes, projectile points, knives, scrapers, and other sharp objects for cutting.

Use of Jade as a Gemstone

Jade is a durable, colorful material that can be worked into shapes and given a high polish. These properties make it a very desirable gemstone. Jade has been used to make a variety of jewelry items such as pendants, necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, beads, cabochons, tumbled stones, and other items.

These jewelry items are often made of solid jade, combined with other gems, or placed in settings made from gold, silver, or other precious metals. In addition to jewelry, jade is used to make small sculptures, ornaments, religious art, and small functional objects.

Materials Confused With Jade

A number of other minerals and materials that are commonly cut and polished are easily confused with jade. All of these materials can have a color, luster, and translucence that is very similar to jade - so similar that the average person is unable to recognize them. These materials are often used to manufacture cabochons, beads, and other objects in the same style as jade. They sometimes enter the market with and without disclosure. They are often marked with the name "jade" or with one of many misnomers.

Chalcedony is a translucent variety of microcrystalline quartz that occurs in a range of colors similar to jade. Chrysoprase is a bright green chalcedony colored by chromium that, when cut into cabochons, beads, and small sculptures, will look very similar to jade. Chalcedony occurs in a variety of other translucent colors such as black, lavender, yellow, and orange that can look like the color varieties of jade. Chalcedony can be a very close gemstone look-alike with jade. It can be differentiated from jade using is lower specific gravity and by a variety of instrumental methods.

Serpentine occurs in a variety of wonderful translucent to nearly transparent green and yellowish green colors that look very much like jade. It is a metamorphic mineral that is often found in the same geographic areas and same types of rocks as jade. Serpentine is significantly softer than jade and also has a much lower specific gravity.

Vesuvianite, also known as idocrase, is another jade look-alike that is very difficult to distinguish from jade without laboratory testing. It has similar hardness, specific gravity, and physical appearance. Vesuvianite is not nearly as tough as jade and will break more easily - but that requires destruction of the specimen.

Maw Sit Sit is a rock with a bright chrome-green color mined in Myanmar. It has a very similar appearance to jade. Maw sit sit is composed of jadeite, albite, and kosmochlor (a mineral related to jadeite). It is used to cut cabochons, beads, and make small sculptures, and is easily confused with jade.

Hydrogrossular Garnet is a green massive variety of garnet that is usually green in color with black markings. It looks so much like jade that in South Africa, where it is common, it is known as "Transvaal Jade." It is frequently cut into beads, cabochons, and small sculptures.

Aventurine is a trade name used for a green quartz that is often colored by fuchsite inclusions. These typically color the quartz a light to dark green color and produce some aventurescent sparkle. Aventurine is sometimes confused with jade. It is sometimes referred to by the misnomer of "Indian Jade."

All of the above natural minerals and rocks can be confused with jade. Many people like them, enjoy them, and knowingly purchase them for that reason. It is important to know that these jade look-alikes, along with plastic and glass made into objects in the same style as jade, are abundant in the market place. Know what you are buying or purchase from a dealer you can trust if you are shopping for these items and desire jade instead of an alternative. Errors and deception are common.

Geography of Jade

Most people immediately think of China as the source of jade and jade objects. China has always been an important producer of jade, a leading jade cutting center, jade consumer, and jade market. The only time dominance in these activities moved outside of China was between World War II and the early 1980s. At that time the Chinese government suppressed jade commerce, and Hong Kong temporarily became the center of jade commerce.

Jade jewelry and jade artwork are extremely important in China. Jade is more important in China than the importance of diamonds in the United States. Per-carat prices for the best imperial jade in China rival the per-carat price paid for diamonds in the United States.

Since prehistoric times, jade has been used to make tools, weapons, and important ornamental objects in Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, South America, and numerous Pacific islands. The toughness of jade made it an excellent material for making tools and weapons.

Because of its beauty, people held jade in highest esteem and used it to make religious art and ornaments for their rulers. None of these ancient cultures had contact with one another, yet they all independently used jade for many of their most sacred and important objects. Such is the appeal of jade.

Geologic Occurrence and Prospecting

Jadeite and nephrite are minerals that form through metamorphism. They are mostly found in metamorphic rocks associated with subduction zones. This places most jadeite and nephrite deposits along the margins of current or geologically ancient convergent plate boundaries involving oceanic lithosphere.

Jadeite is typically found in rocks that have a higher pressure origin than nephrite. This normally causes a geographic separation of jadeite and nephrite deposits.

From ancient times, much of the prospecting for jade has been done in the steeper parts of drainage basins, where pebble- to boulder-size pieces of rocks are found in stream valleys. Boulders and pebbles of jade normally have a brown weathering rind that hides their inner beauty and potential value.

Prospectors search these valleys looking for jade boulders. Small windows are often cut into the boulders in the field to assess the material's quality and to determine if it is worth the labor of transport.

Jade boulders can be very difficult to transport without damage. Human and animal labor was the only way to transport them historically. Today in some areas that is still the only way to move the boulders to market. Where economics allow, a helicopter with a basket or sling on a cable will fly in to difficult areas. Workers on the ground will prepare the boulders for lifting, and the helicopter will fly them out. Although helicopters are very expensive to use for this type of work, one nice boulder can be worth many thousands of dollars or more in rough form.

Some jade is also mined from hard rock deposits. Boulders are sometimes mined from ancient conglomerates, but ophiolite exposures are the most important type of hard rock deposit. Ophiolites are the metamorphosed rocks of ancient subduction zones, now exposed at the surface by faulting or uplift, followed by exhumation by weathering. Jade is mined from ophiolites by both surface and underground methods.

Geographically, much of the world's jade is found around the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where subduction transports large slabs of oceanic lithosphere beneath continents and volcanic island arcs. This accounts for much of the jade found in South America, Central America, the United States, Canada, eastern Asia, and New Zealand.

Perhaps the most attractive and valuable jade found in the United States is from the area around Jeffrey City and Crooks Gap in Wyoming. There, nephrite jade is found by prospecting alluvial sediments, looking for jade in stream-rounded pebble- to boulder-size pieces.

Social Importance of Jade

In the United States and Europe, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, opals, garnets, and a few other gems are much more popular than jade. Jade is not thought to be as precious in these regions as it is in China.

The Chinese have a much higher regard for jade than any other people. For thousands of years, jade has been the most popular gemstone in China. Chinese emperors desired excellent specimens of jade, and they traded or waged war with distant people to acquire them.

In China, gifts made from jade are given at almost every important station in life, such as birthdays, anniversaries, marriages, and other celebrations. It is also a commonly used material for producing religious art. China is the country where the importance of jade is the highest.

Find Other Topics on Geology.com:

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Jade: A beautiful and durable material of nephrite or jadeite

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Home " Gemstones " Jade Jadeite and nephrite are materials that have both been called "jade" for thousands of years. Author: Hobart M. King, PhD, GIA Graduate Gemologist "Jade" is a cultural term used for a very durable material that has been fashioned into tools, sculptures, jewelry, gemstones, and other objects for over 5,000 years.

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Pacal's tomb

Pacal was 80 years old when he died. His reign, and that of his son Chan-Bahlum, are credited for inspiring the exceptional beauty of Palenque's art and architecture. The sarcophagus lid weighs as much as five tons and the sarcophagus itself weighs in excess of fifteen tons. Because of its enormous weight and size, it was set in place at the base of the temple before construction began.
The limestone sarcophagus lid is carved with a scene of Pacal at the moment of his death. He is shown falling down the World Tree into the jaws of the Underworld. He is accompanied by an image of the head of a skeletal monster carrying a bowl marked with the sign of the sun. This sign indicates that Pacal would be reborn as a god by defeating the Lords of Death who live in the Underworld. Portraits of his ancestors can be seen around the four sides of his coffin. Each figure is wearing a headdress symbolizing a fruit tree.

(right) Replica of Pacal's tomb
Medium: Limestone
Date: Late Classic Period, 650 A.D.
Location: Temple of Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico

Maya kings normally inherited their title through their fathers. Pacal's father was not a king, but his mother and great grandmother were both powerful women who ruled as true kings. Although this created a dilemma for the government because of the convention of patrilineal descent, these two exceptional women defied tradition by taking charge of the throne. Pacal established an unshakable claim to the throne even though he was not the son of a king. He explained this change as being preordained by the gods.
To legitimize his claim, he declared his mother to be the living embodiment of the First Mother, who created the gods and humans. This meant that Pacal was the son of a goddess. To add more weight to his argument, he claimed he was born on a day that exactly replicated the birth date of the First Mother. In this way, he secured his position as king.

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Pacal was 80 years old when he died. His reign, and that of his son Chan-Bahlum, are credited for inspiring the exceptional beauty of Palenque's art and architecture. The sarcophagus lid weighs as much as five tons and the sarcophagus itself weighs in excess of fifteen tons.

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The Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence around the sixth century A.D. The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork. Most of the great stone cities of the Maya were abandoned by A.D. 900, however, and since the 19th century scholars have debated what might have caused this dramatic decline.

Locating the Maya

The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica (a term used to describe Mexico and Central America before the 16th century Spanish conquest). Unlike other scattered indigenous populations of Mesoamerica, the Maya were centered in one geographical block covering all of the Yucatan Peninsula and modern-day Guatemala; Belize and parts of the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador. This concentration showed that the Maya remained relatively secure from invasion by other Mesoamerican peoples.

Did you know? Among the earliest Maya a single language existed, but by the Preclassic Period a great linguistic diversity developed among the various Maya peoples. In modern-day Mexico and Central America, around 5 million people speak some 70 Maya languages; most of them are bilingual in Spanish.

Within that expanse, the Maya lived in three separate sub-areas with distinct environmental and cultural differences: the northern Maya lowlands on the Yucatan Peninsula; the southern lowlands in the Peten district of northern Guatemala and adjacent portions of Mexico, Belize and western Honduras; and the southern Maya highlands, in the mountainous region of southern Guatemala. Most famously, the Maya of the southern lowland region reached their peak during the Classic Period of Maya civilization (A.D. 250 to 900), and built the great stone cities and monuments that have fascinated explorers and scholars of the region.

Early Maya, 1800 B.C. to A.D. 250

The earliest Maya settlements date to around 1800 B.C., or the beginning of what is called the Preclassic or Formative Period. The earliest Maya were agricultural, growing crops such as corn (maize), beans, squash and cassava (manioc). During the Middle Preclassic Period, which lasted until about 300 B.C., Maya farmers began to expand their presence both in the highland and lowland regions. The Middle Preclassic Period also saw the rise of the first major Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmecs. Like other Mesamerican peoples, such as the Zapotec, Totonac, Teotihuacán and Aztec, the Maya derived a number of religious and cultural traits-as well as their number system and their famous calendar-from the Olmec.

In addition to agriculture, the Preclassic Maya also displayed more advanced cultural traits like pyramid-building, city construction and the inscribing of stone monuments.

The Late Preclassic city of Mirador, in the northern Peten, was one of the greatest cities ever built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Its size dwarfed the Classic Maya capital of Tikal, and its existence proves that the Maya flourished centuries before the Classic Period.

Cities of Stone: The Classic Maya, A.D. 250-900

The Classic Period, which began around A.D. 250, was the golden age of the Maya Empire. Classic Maya civilization grew to some 40 cities, including Tikal, Uaxactún, Copán, Bonampak, Dos Pilas, Calakmul, Palenque and Río Bec; each city held a population of between 5,000 and 50,000 people. At its peak, the Maya population may have reached 2,000,000.

Excavations of Maya sites have unearthed plazas, palaces, temples and pyramids, as well as courts for playing the famous Maya ball game ulama, all ritually and politically significant to Maya culture. Maya cities were surrounded and supported by a large population of farmers. Though the Maya practiced a primitive type of "slash-and-burn" agriculture, they also displayed evidence of more advanced farming methods, such as irrigation and terracing.

The Maya were deeply religious, and worshiped various gods related to nature, including the gods of the sun, the moon, rain and corn. At the top of Maya society were the kings, or "kuhul ajaw" (holy lords), who claimed to be related to gods and followed a hereditary succession. They were thought to serve as mediators between the gods and people on earth, and performed the elaborate religious ceremonies and rituals so important to the Maya culture.

Maya Arts and Culture

The Classic Maya built many of their temples and palaces in a stepped pyramid shape, decorating them with elaborate reliefs and inscriptions. These structures have earned the Maya their reputation as the great artists of Mesoamerica. Guided by their religious ritual, the Maya also made significant advances in mathematics and astronomy, including the use of the zero and the development of complex calendar systems like the Calendar Round, based on 365 days, and later, the Long Count Calendar, designed to last over 5,000 years.

Serious exploration of Classic Maya sites began in the 1830s. By the early to mid-20th century, a small portion of their system of hieroglyph writing had been deciphered, and more about their history and culture became known. Most of what historians know about the Maya comes from what remains of their architecture and art, including stone carvings and inscriptions on their buildings and monuments. The Maya also made paper from tree bark and wrote in books made from this paper, known as codices; four of these codices are known to have survived. They are also credited with some of the earliest uses of chocolate and of rubber.

Life in the Rainforest

One of the many intriguing things about the Maya was their ability to build a great civilization in a tropical rainforest climate. Traditionally, ancient peoples had flourished in drier climates, where the centralized management of water resources (through irrigation and other techniques) formed the basis of society. (This was the case for the Teotihuacan of highland Mexico, contemporaries of the Classic Maya.) In the southern Maya lowlands, however, there were few navigable rivers for trade and transport, as well as no obvious need for an irrigation system.

By the late 20th century, researchers had concluded that the climate of the lowlands was in fact quite environmentally diverse. Though foreign invaders were disappointed by the region's relative lack of silver and gold, the Maya took advantage of the area's many natural resources, including limestone (for construction), the volcanic rock obsidian (for tools and weapons) and salt. The environment also held other treasures for the Maya, including jade, quetzal feathers (used to decorate the elaborate costumes of Maya nobility) and marine shells, which were used as trumpets in ceremonies and warfare.

Mysterious Decline of the Maya

From the late eighth through the end of the ninth century, something unknown happened to shake the Maya civilization to its foundations. One by one, the Classic cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned, and by A.D. 900, Maya civilization in that region had collapsed. The reason for this mysterious decline is unknown, though scholars have developed several competing theories.

Some believe that by the ninth century the Maya had exhausted the environment around them to the point that it could no longer sustain a very large population. Other Maya scholars argue that constant warfare among competing city-states led the complicated military, family (by marriage) and trade alliances between them to break down, along with the traditional system of dynastic power. As the stature of the holy lords diminished, their complex traditions of rituals and ceremonies dissolved into chaos. Finally, some catastrophic environmental change-like an extremely long, intense period of drought-may have wiped out the Classic Maya civilization. Drought would have hit cities like Tikal-where rainwater was necessary for drinking as well as for crop irrigation-especially hard.

All three of these factors-overpopulation and overuse of the land, endemic warfare and drought-may have played a part in the downfall of the Maya in the southern lowlands. In the highlands of the Yucatan, a few Maya cities-such as Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Mayapán-continued to flourish in the Post-Classic Period (A.D. 900-1500). By the time the Spanish invaders arrived, however, most Maya were living in agricultural villages, their great cities buried under a layer of rainforest green.

Do The Maya Still Exist?

Descendants of the Maya still live in Central America in modern-day Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and parts of Mexico. The majority of them live in Guatemala, which is home to Tikal National Park, the site of the ruins of the ancient city of Tikal. Sixty percent of Guatemalans are of Mayan descent.
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Source

The Mayan Civilization. Stanford.edu.

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The Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence around the sixth century A.D. The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork.

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Maya culture shared many characteristics with other Mesoamerican cultures such as the Olmec, Zapotec or Aztec, but retained some features purely Mayan. The Maya, for example, had the only writing system that represented the spoken language of the Mayans. While other Mesoamericans also had a form of pictographic writing, the Maya had the only fully developed writing system. In fact, many aspects of Maya culture were more refined or perfected forms of art and architecture or the complex calendar shared among all Mesoamerican cultures. Because of extensive trading networks, all Mesoamerican cultures influenced the others.

Geography

Mayans lived in southern Mexico and northern Central America including Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. This area includes the northern lowlands, central lowlands and southern highlands. These areas include rainforests, savannas, semi-arid highland plateaus, semi-alpine peaks and swampy low areas. Such an array of landscapes is host to a rich diversity of wildlife and plants; Maya culture adapted creatively to this diverse natural world.

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Religion

The Maya religion centers on the cyclical nature of time, in constant birth, death and rebirth. Maya rituals follow both terrestrial and celestial cycles, which Maya priests were expert at reading. Maya civilization depended on maize or corn and the Maya maize god was of central importance. Like the Aztecs, Mayans practiced human sacrifice, although not to the extent of the Aztecs. Auto-sacrifice, or bloodletting, by rulers, priests and nobles was common. Great pyramids held temples and tombs amid huge central plazas in every Maya city. Religion was central and a vital component of Mayan life.

Architecture

A Maya city can be recognized from the stepped pyramids, huge plazas and expansive palaces built for kings and nobles. One religious ritual common to many Mesoamerican cultures was the sacred ball game, with a ball court built close to temples. Carved stone monuments called stelae are found all over the Mayan areas. Stelae were carved in bas relief to celebrate the life and deeds of Maya rulers and nobles and can still be seen today. With the invention of the corbelled arch, Maya builders created light and airy rooms that lent their temples and palaces a decided gracefulness.

Writing System

The Maya developed a complex writing system that represented their spoken language, the only fully developed writing system from a Stone Age culture. Maya script relied on over a thousand glyphs or symbol which could represent either a syllable or a word. The Maya wrote books called codices made of bark paper and folded like an accordion.

Mathematics, Astronomy, Calendar

The Maya excelled in their use of mathematics especially as it pertained to astronomy and the working out of their calendar. The astronomical observations of the Maya were quite accurate, denoting the movements of the planets, particularly Venus, and the sun and moon. From these excellent astronomical notations, the Maya constructed and perfected the Mesoamerican calendar, which included both the sacred, ritual 260-day calendar and the 365 day solar calendar with the Long Count Calendar. The Long Count Calendar began on the date August 11, 3114 B.C. and entered its next cycle on December 21, 2012. The brouhaha over the end of the world date of December 21, 2012 began when the end of a long cycle was interpreted as the end of the world.
This article is part of our larger resource on the Mayans culture, society, economics, and warfare. Click here for our comprehensive article on the Mayans.
Cite This Article

"Distinctive Features of the Maya Culture" History on the Net
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February 21, 2022 <https://www.historyonthenet.com/distinctive-features-of-the-maya-culture>
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Distinctive Features of the Maya Culture - History

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Loading... Maya culture shared many characteristics with other Mesoamerican cultures such as the Olmec, Zapotec or Aztec, but retained some features purely Mayan. The Maya, for example, had the only writing system that represented the spoken language of the Mayans. While other Mesoamericans also had a form of pictographic writing, the Maya had the only fully developed writing system.