Costarican Precolumbian social jade: a review of petrographic diversity, raw material sources and potential exchange routes
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| Autores: | , |
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| Formato: | artículo original |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de Publicación: | 2018 |
| Descripción: | In this paper we review the mineralogical-petrological-geological information relevant for social jade (greenstone) used in Costa Rica during Pre-Columbian times. Around 50 % or even more of the pre-Columbian social jade artifacts in Costa Rica may have been produced using local sources (green lutlte and sandstone, serpentinite, jasper and other types of flint and quartz), but the rest of recovered samples seem to have been manufactured with material imported from external sources (i.e., jadeitite, omphacitite, chloromelanite, dolostone, marble and talc), for they are not present in Costa Rica. The geological evolution in the past did not favor the formation of jadeitite and other mentioned materials in Costa Rica. Hence, social jade made of material not present in Costa Rica must have been sourced from metamorphic regions from north Nicaragua to Mexico. Jadeitite and associated rocks (omphacitite, chloromelanite mineral) was most probably sourced from Guatemala, but Siuna (Nicargua) is a potential source that must be explored. Known sources of jadeitite in the Greater Antilles (Cuba and Dominican Republic) may have been also involved in the trade of jade finally arriving at Costa Rica. However, geological and anthropological arguments can be raised in favor of a “lost” source of jade in northern Venezuela. In a synoptic view, archaeological evidence, including lapidary, pottery and precious-metal craftwork, point to a strong commercial pre-Columbian network (jade route) from México to Panamá isthmus reaching further East to the north of Colombia and Venezuela and the Antilles. Detailed petrological/geochemical studies of jade (and related rocks) artifacts in Costa Rica are needed in order to move forward in the knowledge of the complex economic and cultural networks of Mesoamerica-Antillean pre-Columbian societies. |
| País: | Portal de Revistas UCR |
| Institución: | Universidad de Costa Rica |
| Repositorio: | Portal de Revistas UCR |
| Lenguaje: | Español |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:portal.ucr.ac.cr:article/35538 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/antropologia/article/view/35538 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Social jade Nephrite Pre-columbian sources Mesoamerica Caribbean Jade social Nefrita Fuentes precolombinas Mesoamérica Caribe |