gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Central America, Guatemala, Mesoamerica, lapidary, Costa Rica, Olmec, Maya

Balser describes a distinctive type of Costa Rican jade carving that he relates stylistically to Olmec traditions and examines the use of string sawing in its manufacture. String sawing—using a fibrous cord with an abrasive to cut hard stone—permitted interior cuts and openwork forms and left characteristic channels that provide evidence of the working technique. The paper places the object within the broader development of pre-Columbian jade lapidary traditions and the relationships between Costa Rican and Mesoamerican jade working.