Hello CCDDKK,
Ancient Mesoamerican cultures are not my field and I know them primarily through the writings of contact and post-contact Spanish missionaries. However, a quick review of the Jade Problem, so to speak, results in the following information.
There are two general problems in the archaic-historiography of Mesoamerican studies: one, where did the jadeite originate? Two, what was its cultural context?
If the piece were to prove pre-Columbian, the jade would have been worked with all or one of the following methods: string sawing, flat saw (hardwood?), stylus abrasion, and/or hand drill. The head pendant may originally have been flat sawn. The drilled holes at either side of the jadeite head also suggest that this was hung and perhaps worn as an amulet or pendant. The details of the face, incised or in relief, were fashioned in a manner that remains uncertain but various methods have been put forward an example of which is that the spines of cactus or vines were used to manipulate a fine abrasive in order to achieve the desired results (stylus abrasion).
In many examples of Mayan workmanship, except in the case of large pieces which had to be cut up, the original shape of the stone was modified as little as possible in producing an ornament. In numerous cases, the reverse side of the jadeite object still retains a water-produced patina. Checking the reverse side of the artifact for a patina of this type would help to establish its authenticity.
Cultural context: jade was a major source of spiritual power during the Mayan pre-contact period. Anthropologists note that in Mayan culture jade was associated with fertility; with the green shoots of young corn plants, water and life. Jadeite beads have been found in burials placed in the mouths of the dead along with ground corn so that the person would not starve physically or spiritually in his or her future life. In a curious parallel with Asian cultures, jadeite was associated with status in the afterlife. Mayan elites were buried wearing jade death masks, enabling the lords of the underworld to recognize them and treat them with honor.
According to one of the current experts on Mayan jade, anthropologist Karl A. Taube of University of California, Riverside, the �Classic Maya esteemed jadeite not only for its preciousness and beauty but also as stone of great symbolic import. The Classic Maya ascribed a number of meanings to jade, including maize, centrality, and rulership, as well as a material embodiment of wind and the vitalizing breath soul. Because of its close relationship to the breath spirit, jade was an important component of funerary rites and the ritual conjuring of gods and ancestors. Carved in floral form, jade earspools were considered supernatural sources or passageways for the breath spirit, frequently portrayed as a bead or a serpent emerging from the center of the jade flare. A common Classic Maya death expression, och b'ih, pertains directly to resurrection of the soul through the symbolism of earspools. Many of the symbolic meanings and imagery found with Classic Maya jade also appears with other cultures of ancient Mesoamerica, including Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, and the contact-period Aztec. Rather than being wholly of Classic Maya origin, many aspects of this jade symbolism and related artifacts can be also found among the earlier Middle Formative Olmec.� (Karl A. Taube, The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, Ancient Mesoamerica ( 2005), 16: 23-50 Cambridge University Press). Dr. Taube is also active with the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (FAMSI). Here is a link to his report on the jade-producing areas of the Mayan cultural horizon. The site is a virtual cornucopia of all things related to Mesoamerican archaeology and anthropology.
http://www.famsi.org/reports/03023/index.html
As it turns out, jadeite from the Mayan culture area found its way through pre-Columbian trade routes from sources in Guatemala, through the Gulf of Belize or the Yucatan peninsula, and across the great island arcs of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Accordingly, worked Mayan jadeites have been found as far to the eastward as Aruba, some 3500 km of island hopping by canoe. According to the British Museum, the main source for Mayan jade appears to be the Motagua Valley in present day Guatemala.
With respect to the jadeite head pendant, the quote from Dr. Taube above is worth emphasizing; Taube stresses the importance of the earspools for good reason - a significant portion of Mayan worked jade depicting the human head that dates from the Mayan Classic Period (300-900 CE) or earlier contains or emphasizes these earspools. What is potentially significant about CCDDKK�s jade head pendant is that the earspools are lacking. Thus, if the piece is a product of the Mayan Classic Period or earlier, given the very strong association of jade-Mayan afterlife-earspools, the fact that such earspools are absent engenders in the object a uniqueness that offers both a line of research that could lead to an ID as well as pose interesting questions about the provenance of the object.
A quick survey of Atlantic and Pacific watershed jadeite artifacts from the other great jade producing region of Central America, Costa Rica, did not turn up any artifacts stylistically similar to that of CCDDKK�s object. In Costa Rica, it appears that the fashion for jade ornaments died out around the year 700 CE.
Turning attention to the cylindrical object, it may perhaps be a bead (I assume it is drilled to allow it to be fastened) fashioned of red hematite, a mineral with a very high specific gravity. This might account for its unusual heaviness despite its diminutive size. The iconography is not clear enough for me to make out anything more.
Again, I am no expert on Mesoamerican jade but I hope that this post at least allows the discussion and research of the objects to move a step or two forward.
In any event welcome CCDDKK and keep us posted should any additional information about these objects come to light.
Best Regards,
Lubby
