The Carnegie Maya III: Carnegie Institution of Washington Notes on Middle American Archaeology and Ethnology, 1940-1957

91. Jades from Guatemala (1949)

360 N o t e s o f M i d d l e A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y a n d E t h n o l o g y Carnegie Institution of Washington Division of Historical Research No. 91 January 20, 1949 Jades from Guatemala A. V. Kidder In 1946 and 1947, A. L. Smith excavated two mounds at a large archaeological site in the outskirts of the town of Nebaj in the Department of El Quiche. The jades recovered are of much importance for the study of Mesoamerican ornaments of this material because of the fact that the age relative to each other of the tombs and caches in which they were found was determinable by stratigraphy; their cultural age, on the basis of the pottery they contained. Thus the jades, of which there were many fine carved specimens, can be assigned to three sequent periods: Early Classic, Late Classic, and the Postclassic horizon characterized by the presence of Tojil plumbate pottery. Although large numbers of carved jades exist in collections, very few are accompanied by data as to age or provenience. Even fewer have been recovered in the course of controlled excavations. With the exception of the series from Monte Alban, not as yet fully published, that from Nebaj is the only one containing specimens to illustrate the types of jades in use at different periods over any considerable stretch of time. Study of the Nebaj collection has resulted in recognition , among them, of certain categories of carved jades which, although they may be older, cannot be youngerthanthearchaeologicalhorizoninwhichthey occurred, This in turn permits assigning minimum dates, in terms of cultural periods, to various pieces in museums and private collections as to which we had previously had no chronological information. A number of the hitherto “floating,” but now pretty certainly anchorable, jades are among those illustrated in the present Note. The cultural hookups of others are still uncertain. All are published, however, both because it is desirable that as much material as possible for the study of fades be made available and because the pieces shown in the first 91.1. Jades from Guatemala: (a) doubtful; length of c, 22 cm. Jades from Guatemala 361 91.2. Jades from Guatemala: (a) Late Classic; (b–d) doubtful; height of e, 14.3 cm. five figures, being in a private collection in England, are not otherwise likely to become accessible. Furthermore , Mr. Smith and I wish to use a considerable number of them for comparative purposes in a report, now in preparation, on the excavations at Nebaj. The period assignments here made will, for the time, have to be taken on faith. Our reasons for making them will be given in the above-mentioned report. The pieces shown in Figures 91.1–91.5 were found many years ago at unspecified sites in the western highlands. Those in Figure 91.6 are in the 91.3. Jades from Guatemala: (a, h) doubtful, possibly of Mexican origin. (scale in inches.) 91.4. Jades from Guatemala: all but a and n doubtful. (scale as in Fig. 91.3.) 91.5. Jades from Guatemala: (a) Late Classic; (b–h) doubtful (b, e, h, and i are probably not jade; I have not seen any of these specimens); (i) Olmec (?) or perhaps Olmec-influenced; (j) Late Classic (?); (k) doubtful. (Scale as in Figs. 91.3 and 91.4.) Jades from Guatemala 365 91.6. Jades from Guatemala: (h) doubtful; height of b, 11.2 cm; of d, 10.5 cm. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, and are reproduced with the kind permission of Mr. George G. Heye. They are thought to have come from the vicinity of Mazatenango, on the Pacific slope in the Department of Suchitepequez. All of both lots are tentatively identified as Early Classic, except as noted below. ...