gems, jade, pyroxene jade, fei cui, guatemala, Mesoamerica, Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, archaeogemology, Mayan design, aesthetics, Olmec, Aztec, Guatemala, archaeology, lapidary, Teotihuacan

An analysis of fine stone and shell materials from Teotihuacan was undertaken to define the nature and organization of the city’s lapidary industry. More than 8,000 artefacts and manufacturing remains composed of jadeite, serpentine, slate, other fine stones and a wide variety of Atlantic and Pacific shell species were examined. These materials, recovered by the University of Rochester’s Teotihuacan Mapping Project, included complete and fragmentary beads, pendants, figurines and other ornaments, as well as small and minute waste fragments produced during manufacture. All specimens were identified and analysed both microscopically and macroscopically, and the resulting data were recorded in a computerized database. Three lines of evidence were used to investigate lapidary production at Teotihuacan. First, materials from a suspected workshop district were analysed to determine whether it had indeed functioned as a lapidary barrio. Second, lapidary materials recovered from twenty-seven test excavations were studied for evidence of production activities and for information regarding the use of fine stones and shells in a variety of contexts throughout the city. Third, materials from surface collections across all sectors of Teotihuacan were examined to identify patterns in the distribution and use of lapidary materials and to locate areas where high concentrations of manufacturing debris might indicate workshop activity. The results confirmed that lapidary workshops were concentrated in a barrio on the northeastern edge of the city, as earlier investigators had suspected. This district appears to have produced lapidary objects intended for the middle strata of Teotihuacan society and has therefore been interpreted as a barrio of local workshops. Additional local workshops may also have existed elsewhere within the city. Although the state probably controlled the flow of raw materials into these workshops, direct state control over production itself appears to have been limited. A second, more specialized level of lapidary production was also identified. Workshops located adjacent to major temple and pyramid precincts seem to have operated under the supervision of temple or palace authorities and produced luxury goods intended for the upper levels of society. The study further explored the symbolic significance of fine stones and shells as materials associated with fertility, abundance and prestige. Notably, it demonstrated that images of jadeite were employed as a form of glyphic notation in Teotihuacan mural painting, underscoring the cultural and ideological importance of jade within Teotihuacan society.