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

Considered the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica, the people known today as the Olmec developed an iconic and sophisticated artistic style as early as the second millennium BC. This pre-Columbian civilization, which flourished in the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco between 1400 and 400 BC, is best known for the creation of colossal stone portrait heads of its rulers. Weighing up to 24 tons, these monumental heads are among the most inspiring and beautiful masterpieces of the ancient Americas. Archaeologists have made significant discoveries at key sites in Mexico over the past fifteen years. Informed by the most recent scholarship, this sweeping international project brings together a diverse selection of more than one hundred monuments, sculptures, adornments, masks, and vessels that paint a rich portrait of life in the most important Olmec centres, including San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes. A number of the artworks have never before been published. Particular attention is paid to the emergence of the culture, distinctive variations in the art of different sites, and the chronology and reach of Olmec civilization during its apex. Centred on the concept of discovery, this wide-ranging volume presents a fresh look at the masterworks of the Olmec world, recapturing the excitement that greeted the unearthing of the first colossal stone head in the mid-nineteenth century.