gems, jade, Mesoamerican jade, Guatemala jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mayan jade, Costa Rica

Wilson surveys hard-stone implements from the Americas, drawing especially on archaeological collections from North America and comparing their forms, materials, manufacture, and distribution. He considers polished axes, celts, adzes, and related implements made from resistant rocks and minerals, discussing the techniques by which they were shaped, ground, and polished and the difficulties involved in assigning their forms to particular periods or cultures. Particular attention is given to the widespread occurrence of similar stone-tool types and to comparisons between American specimens and prehistoric implements from Europe and elsewhere. Wilson cautions against assuming that formal similarities necessarily demonstrate cultural contact or common origin, emphasizing instead the influence of function and available raw materials on implement form. The paper forms part of the proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology held in Paris in 1889.