Cave entrance icons are common in Classic Maya art: many are pictured in my book on Monster und Menschen in der Maya Kunst.īut in addition to mythology and iconography of caves in the Mayan world, there are a lot of minerals and clays that the Maya would have mined in caves.įirst posted April 25, 2006. Cave entrances are sacred icons from pre-Maya Olmec times onward. Geologist since initially, many of the minerals do not look like what we best knowĬaves are featured in the Book of the Popol Vuh. Many of these minerals in Belize, but again it will be vital to have a good Sources, but you would have to check with him. To be working particular minerals in workshops and I think he has found their While In Guatemala for he has found several archaeological sites where they seem The sources have not be located, but you may wish to contact Juan Pedro Laporte Other stones need to be split to be seen. Good luck photographing these resources in the field. In Belize, I have streamsįull of pyrite that make them look like shimmering rivers of gold! Pretty wild! Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for GREEN OBSIDIAN ROUGH 15. Minerals like pyrite and hematite are also found in a a matrix that usually has toīe separated from the true mineral itself to be seen. Water from their original sources either underground or from surrounding matrix). I should say that most of these materials are simply found as float (materialsįound in and around streams and rivers that have been moved by the movement of Limonite (used for yellow pigments), greenstones (like serpentine), high-qualityĬlays (common in specialized cave deposits used for high-quality ceramics), black Grinding stones), quartz, travertine, magnatite (used for black pigments), Others I would add are basalt (and other volcaniclastic rocks all used for Mesoamerica for this material only comes from volcanic areas (like Maya Mountains of Belize and Highlands of Guatemala). (fine and course grained) used for manos and metates and traded all around I would add a few more minerals to your list: in particular I would add granite SoĪgain, be careful and when in doubt grab yourself a good geologic handbook. "chert" in SE Guatemala is in fact "flint" a different geologic composition. So-called "chert" of Belize is in fact chemically "chert" whereas some of the So you may wish to keep that in mind.Īlso, chert and flint or two different geologic minerals. Vases from Honduras) are in fact made of travertine. A detailed analysis of the spearpoint, including geochemical sourcing, reveals that it is indeed made of so-called Pachuca obsidian from central Mexico however, the size, shape, and lithic technology of the piece are consistent with easily obtainable modern creations. Most of the stone artifacts thought to be alabaster (including many of the Uula Recent geologic work by several noted geologists has revealed that Here are his comments on archaeo-mineralogy.Īs for your list of resources, it is very important to keep in mind thatĪlabaster, while used by various cultures in Mesoamerica, has traditionally beenĬonfused by archaeologists with travertine (cave flow stones: stalagmites and In the course of time, we have hunted for deposits of rainbow obsidian high in the mountains and found blue, black, grey, red and chocolate-colored obsidian in the cool oak and pine forests less than an hour’s drive from Guadalajara. Obsidian was widely used across ancient Mexico, tapped from numerous sources throughout the region. Money Back Guarantee ensures YOU receive. But I recently spoke with a person in Guatemala knowledgeable about local minerals and she said that a small amount of green obsidian was available in Guatemala naturally.Ĭomments by archaeologist Dr Phil Wanyerka, Cleveland State University.ĭr Wanyerka, in addition to being a leading epigrapher of Mayan hieroglyphic writing, also has general archaeological field experience, especially in Belize. Shop the Largest Selection, Click to See Search eBay faster with PicClick. Green and black obsidian even reached Tikal because of the trade routes from Teotihuacan. When I visited those mines over a decade ago I was impressed how extensive they were. Green obsidian comes from Pachuca, far away in Mexico.
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