In Guatemala, a Rhode Island-Size Jade Lode
24th November 2011
The deposits rival the world’s leading current source of mined jade, in Myanmar, formerly Burma, the experts say. The implications for history, archaeology and anthropology are just starting to emerge.
For one thing, the scientists say, the find suggests that the Olmecs, who flourished on the southern gulf coast of Mexico, exerted wide influence in the Guatemalan highlands as well. All told, they add, the Guatemalan lode was worked for millenniums [sic], as compared with centuries for the Burmese one.