Male Narrator: This jade clam shell pendant attests to the enduring influence of the Olmecs, one of Mesoamerica’s first major civilizations, dating back some 3200 years. It also highlights the extensive trade routes that crisscrossed the Ancient Americas.
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Jade comes from a single known source in Guatemala’s Motagua River Valley, far to the south of the Olmec heartland. Because it was very difficult to attain, owning jade conferred prestige and power on Olmec rulers, for whom the precious stone was reserved. The Olmecs prized jade for its rich hues. Senior Research Specialist Kim Richter:
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Kim Richter: The green of the jade was seen as symbolic of the sprouting maize plant. And because maize was the most important staple in Mesoamerica, whoever controlled maize agriculture was the most powerful and they expressed their power through jade. Olmec rulers wore jade, for example, as pendants like this one, and probably also as ear spools.
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Male Narrator: Wearing jade allowed Olmec rulers to associate themselves with their maize god, and to thereby claim their own divinity.
Later cultures also prized jade. Because it was so rare, they sometimes repurposed Olmec jade they obtained through trade, perhaps also valuing its connection with a great earlier civilization. This pendant, for example, features a hand grasping a composite feline-insect creature. It eventually made its way to Costa Rica, where it was later buried in a tomb.
Kim Richter: Central America was the crossroads between South America and Mesoamerica. People were probably trading up and down the coasts, and so you see influences from both areas in Central America.
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Male Narrator: Mesoamerican artists who crafted pieces such as this worked with only non-metal tools—such as other stones, volcanic glass, or drills made of reed. It took many hours to produce an ornament such as this pendant.
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