gems, jade, pyroxene, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology

Jade tadpole spoons and clamshell pendants represent some of the most symbolically charged items of wealth and power in formative Mesoamerica. The Tzimin jades are a newly discovered cache of these items from the Middle Preclassic (900 BC—350 BC) Maya village of Paso del Macho that offer additional context for assessing the function and significance of jade adornments during this time. Based on material characteristics, the timing of the deposition, and their location, these items are associated with cosmogenesis, the Middle Preclassic fertility complex, and the formation of early cooperative social compacts for the agricultural pioneers of the Puuc region.