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FIFTY SHADES OF GREEN: INTERPRETING MAYA JADE PRODUCTION, CIRCULATION, CONSUMPTION, AND VALUE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2018

Brigitte Kovacevich  and
Michael G. Callaghan
Brigitte Kovacevich*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Howard Phillips Hall Room 309, Orlando, Florida 32816
Michael G. Callaghan*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Howard Phillips Hall Room 309, Orlando, Florida 32816
*
E-mail correspondence to: brigitte.kovacevich@ucf.edu, michael.callaghan@ucf.edu
E-mail correspondence to: brigitte.kovacevich@ucf.edu, michael.callaghan@ucf.edu
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Abstract

This work addresses varying interpretations of the production, circulation, and consumption of jades in the Maya area from the Preclassic through the Postclassic periods (600 b.c.–a.d. 1697). Traditionally, exchange of jades has been seen as a dyadic relationship between elites (gifting and tribute). Some have argued for gradations of value in the circulation of jades, which probably circulated in both elite and commoner spheres. More recent research argues that jade blanks were commoditized because they could be standardized. In this article, we evaluate this last claim, concluding there is no evidence for standardization and commodification of jade blanks, and a dearth of jade blanks in archaeological deposits. We critique the expectation that commodities in some nonindustrial economies should be standardized, and make suggestions about what kinds of jade objects, if any, have greatest potential to become commodities in the Maya area.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , Fall 2019 , pp. 457 - 472
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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