gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology, Pre-Columbian jade; Costa Rica; Maya; exchange; iconography, lapidary, turquoise, agate, quartz, jewelry, jewelry arts, art

In many respects, the great Classic-period city of Teotihuacan can be regarded as the canonical source of Postclassic Nahuatl culture. The civic and religious architecture of the Toltec and Aztec cultures shares many traits with earlier Teotihuacan, including the use of balustrades and beam-and-mortar roofs, frequently ornamented with projecting almena sculptures. Specific iconographic motifs such as speech scrolls, Mexican year signs, and bivalve shells with coyote-like heads and limbs are well documented in both Teotihuacan and Aztec art. In addition, some of the better-known Postclassic Central Mexican deities, including Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl, can be readily traced to earlier Teotihuacan. Although many of these examples could be explained through shared ancestry, it is also clear that the Aztecs were not simply unconscious inheritors of previous traditions. Rather, they were acutely aware of Teotihuacan as a specific ancient place possessing its own unique qualities and characteristics. Thus, in addition to contact-period Indigenous accounts describing the ancient city, there are archaizing Aztec evocations of Teotihuacan art and architecture (see Umberger 1987; Matos Moctezuma and López Luján 1993). The Aztecs also traced many of the essential features of their solar war cult to ancient Teotihuacan (Taube 1992c). This study examines several of the major themes shared between Teotihuacan and later Aztec warfare symbolism, including fire, self-sacrifice, and the metamorphosis and resurrection of the warrior soul. Although the focus here is Central Mexican ideology and belief, considerable evidence is also drawn from ancient Maya epigraphy and art, particularly of the Late Classic period. As contemporaries of Teotihuacan, the Classic Maya were well aware of the art and ideology of this great centre. Even after Teotihuacan ceased to be a major force in Mesoamerica at the close of the Late Classic period, the Maya continued to celebrate its iconography and symbolism. In Classic Maya art, Teotihuacan imagery tends not to appear as isolated elements but rather as part of an integrated complex of related motifs, including Teotihuacan-style Tlalocs, Mexican year signs, chevrons, and many other features. In Maya art, this foreign Mexican imagery commonly centres on the symbolism of warfare. Possessing both a highly naturalistic artistic tradition and the most developed writing system of ancient Mesoamerica, the Classic Maya provide important insights into Teotihuacan. Objects appearing in the highly developed yet often enigmatic art of Teotihuacan are rendered with striking clarity in Maya representations, while still poorly understood entities are identified and described through Maya glyphic texts.