gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Guatemala, Mesoamerica, geology, Montagua River, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras

The first European interest in jade arose from contact not with China, but with the New World. During the early sixteenth century, the Spanish conquistadors and later chroniclers were fascinated by the extremely high value the Aztec placed on jadeite, known as chalchihuitl in Nahuatl. In many early Spanish accounts, lacking prior knowledge of jade, it is commonly referred to as emerald, an incorrect term clearly derived from the precious as well as verdant quality of the stone. A direct participant in the conquest of Mexico, Bernal Díaz del Castillo mentioned that soon after delivering a rich treasure to Hernán Cortés at San Juan de Ulúa, an emissary of Moctezuma II offered Cortés a group of extremely precious jades along with other rare goods: