Sierra de las Minas
Encyclopedia
Sierra de las Minas is a mountain range in eastern Guatemala
, extending 130 km west of the Lake Izabal
. It is 15–30 km wide and bordered by the valleys of the rivers Polochic
in the north and the Motagua
in the south. Its western border is marked by the Salamá River
valley which separates it from the Chuacús mountain range
. The highest peak is Cerro Raxón at 3,015 m.
The Sierra's rich deposits of jade
and marble
have been mined throughout the past centuries. These small scale mining activities also explain the name of the mountain range.
The range has several different habitat
s, including Mesoamerica's largest cloud forest
s, and is home to a great variety of wildlife. A large part of the Sierra de las Minas was declared a biosphere reserve
in 1990.
(Pharomachrus mocinno), Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) and Horned Guan
(Oreophasis derbianus).
Felines with a significant presence are the Jaguar
(Panthera onca), Cougar (Felis concolor), Onza
(Puma yagouaroundi), Ocelot
(Leopardus pardalis) and Margay
(Leopardus wiedii).
Other mammals in the reserve include the Red Brocket
(Mazama americana), the Mantled Howler
(Alouatta palliata) and Baird's Tapir
(Tapirus bairdii).
, (one of the two forms of jade) marble
, serpentine, and other minerals. Smaller jadeite deposits have been rediscovered sporadically in the last 50 years, but it wasn’t until 1998 that a major source was identified.
Jadeite is found all over the world, in countries such as Myanmar
, New Zealand
, Kazakhstan
, Russia
, British Columbia
, United States
, and Turkestan
. The other form, nephrite
, is much more common, but of much less value. Blue jadeite is similar in structure to the different colors of jadeite; it is the trace elements found in the minerals that contribute to their color. The blue jadeite, for example, is known to have traces of titanium and iron. Jadeite and nephrite artifacts found in the new world were at one point thought to have been from Asia
.
The region of Sierra de Las minas, along with the Motagua river valley, was used by older pre-Columbian
civilizations such as the Olmec
and Maya
as a source of jadeite. The jadeite was used for different purposes, such as for ritual objects and adornments. Because of their location between Mexico
and Central America
, the Maya became an important influence in Mesoamerican trade. Jadeite became an important export for the Maya, along with serpentine, salt
and cacao. It was assumed that these cultures amassed all of their jade from the Motagua River valley, the then only known source of jadeite, in central Guatemala near El Portón.
was chosen to be the field director of the project. However, the resulting trips remained mostly unsuccessful due to the lack of proper technology and the harsh conditions of the wild Guatemalan forests.
It was not until the 180 mph winds of hurricane Mitch
stormed the region in 1998 that jadeite was again uncovered in the area. The storm unearthed previously unknown alluvial deposits of jadeite by flooding the Motagua River thirty-one feet past the flood stage. Other rivers such as the Rio El Tambor also began unveiling alluvial jade. Although the worth of this jade was fairly low (the more intense the green of the jade the more it is worth), prospectors and local shop owners began collecting shards found in the beds of these rivers. In 1999, Russell Seitz happened to be in one of these local jade shops in the town of Antigua when he noticed a large hand-sized sample of the rare blue-jadeite.
In 2000, Seitz started an expedition with prospector Carlos Gonzales Ramirez to find the source of the elusive jadeite. They traveled to El Ciprés, located in Sierra de Las Minas, miles north of the Motagua river valley. They trekked into the mountains and eventually found large veins of jadeite about 2 meters wide by 45 meters long. A site with jade boulders as big as buses was discovered, along with evidence that the site had been worked on for thousands of years.
When Seitz returned to the United States with a few samples, he had them tested and they were confirmed as high quality jadeite. This spurned more researchers to join him in his study of this site. The find was announced in a brief article written by Seitz for the December 2001 issue of Antiquity.
The archaeological connotation of the find was significant. The influence of the Olmecs was understood to be more spread than previously believed. Also found at the site was an ancient dry-stone pathway that led through the mountains to an old habitation and tomb site, filled with the remains of old clay shards. This road has expanded the preconceived size of the Olmecs' trade routes. It is still debatable as to why exactly this large cache of jadeite is still mostly intact. The Maya were known to use the green form of the jadeite for their carvings. And because the Spanish only sought the gold, the Olmecs would have had all the blue jadeite to themselves.
The Motagua valley is another source of jade in the area. The town of Río Hondo
and its surrounding areas have yielded finds such as the “princesa” variety of jadeite. This valuable type of jadeite contains a translucent rich-green color. In 1996 prospector Carlos Gonzalez began searching the area for jade. He discovered a 140 lb boulder of jadeite that had a translucent, light blue color. The 7 km area from La Ceiba
to Carrizal Grand contained similar Omec jade artifacts. Gonzales and colleagues discovered more examples in the southern tributaries of the Rio El Tambor located near Carrizal Grande and San José. In January 2002 they were led to the locality of Quebrada Seca, where they were shown a jade boulder that weighed in excess of 300 tons. Other archeologists such as François Gendron of France and Dr. Richard Mandell of the University of South Carolina began unearthing more samples of jadeite in the region. Gendron discovered a jadeite sample with a composition suggesting it was formed 80 to 90 km underground, much more than the expected 20 km, around which jadeite is usually known to form.
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, extending 130 km west of the Lake Izabal
Lake Izabal
Lago de Izabal, also known as the Golfo Dulce, is the largest lake in Guatemala with a surface area of 589.6 km² and a maximum depth is 18 meters . The Polochic River is the largest river that drains into the lake...
. It is 15–30 km wide and bordered by the valleys of the rivers Polochic
Polochic River
The Polochic River is a 194 km long river in eastern Guatemala. It flows eastwards through a deep valley and flows into Lake Izabal at . The river is navigable for length of 30 km to Panzós. It was used many years ago to transport coffee and timber, but most commercial transport in the river valley...
in the north and the Motagua
Motagua River
The Motagua River is a long river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the Guatemala/Honduras border...
in the south. Its western border is marked by the Salamá River
Salamá River
The Salamá River is a river in Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of streams running down the slopes of the Sierra de las Minas and Sierra de Chuacús and flows in a north-westerly direction through the town of Salamá until it joins the Chixoy River....
valley which separates it from the Chuacús mountain range
Sierra de Chuacús
The Sierra de Chuacús is situated in the central highlands of Guatemala, and runs southeast from El Quiché to Baja Verapaz. Its northwestern border is marked by the Chixoy River basin in Uspantán, which separates it from the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes. Its eastern border is marked by the Salamá...
. The highest peak is Cerro Raxón at 3,015 m.
The Sierra's rich deposits of jade
Jade use in Mesoamerica
Jade use in Mesoamerica was largely influenced by the conceptualization of the material as a rare and valued commodity among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Olmec, the Maya, and the various groups in the Valley of Mexico. The only source from which the indigenous cultures could...
and marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
have been mined throughout the past centuries. These small scale mining activities also explain the name of the mountain range.
The range has several different habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s, including Mesoamerica's largest cloud forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
s, and is home to a great variety of wildlife. A large part of the Sierra de las Minas was declared a biosphere reserve
Biosphere reserve
The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
in 1990.
Biosphere reserve
In 1990, a substantial part of the Sierra de las Minas (2408.03 km² or 929.7 sq mi, including buffer zones and transition areas) was designated a biosphere reserve.Habitats and land cover types
Due to its size and great variety in elevation and precipitation, the range has many different habitats and land cover types, including:- Subtropical thorn forestDeserts and xeric shrublandsDeserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture.-Definition and occurrence:...
, also known as Motagua Valley thornscrub, with CactusCactusA cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...
species, GuaiacumGuaiacumGuaiacum, sometimes spelled Guajacum, is a genus of flowering plants in the caltrop family Zygophyllaceae. It contains five species of slow-growing shrubs and trees, reaching a height of approximately but are usually less than half of that...
species, Vachellia farnesiana and BucidaBucidaBucida is a genus of flowering plants in the Indian almond family, Combretaceae. It contains the following species :* Bucida angustifolia * Bucida buceras L...
macrostachys. - Premontane dry subtropical forestTropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forestsThe tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...
with EncycliaEncycliaEncyclia is a genus of orchids. The genus name comes from Greek enkykleomai , referring to the lateral lobes of the lip which encircle the column. The abbreviation in the horticultural trade is E....
diota, CeibaCeibaCeiba is the name of a genus of many species of large trees found in tropical areas, including Mexico, Central America, South America, The Bahamas, Belize and the Caribbean, West Africa, and Southeast Asia...
aesculifolia and LeucaenaLeucaenaLeucaena is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. It contains about 24 species of trees and shrubs, which are commonly known as Leadtrees. They are native to the Americas, ranging from Texas in the United States south to Peru...
guatemalensis. - Premontane tropical wet forest including Attalea cohuneAttalea cohuneAttalea cohune, commonly known as the cohune palm , is a species of palm tree native to Mexico and Central America....
, TerminaliaTerminalia (plant)Terminalia is a genus of large trees of the flowering plant family Combretaceae, comprising around 100 species distributed in tropical regions of the world. This genus gets it name from Latin terminus, referring to the fact that the leaves appear at the very tips of the shoots.Trees of this genus...
amazonia, Pinus caribaea and Manilkara zapotaSapodillaManilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatan in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species...
. - Lower montane subtropical moist forest with Pinus oocarpaPinus oocarpaPinus oocarpa is a species of pine tree native to Mexico and Central America. It is the national tree of Honduras, where it is known as Ocote. Common names include Pino Amarillo, Pino Avellano, Mexican Yellow Pine, and Hazelnut Pine...
, Quercus species, Alnus jorullensis and Encyclia selligera. - Cloud forestCloud forestA cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
including Alfaroa costaricensisAlfaroa costaricensisAlfaroa costaricensis, also known as campano chile, chiciscua, gaulin, gavilán colorado, or gavilancillo, is nut bearing timber tree in the Juglandaceae family. It is native to the Neotropics, from Mexico, through Central America to Colombia.-Habitat:A...
, BrunelliaBrunelliaBrunellia is a genus of trees in the family Brunelliaceae. It consists of 62 species which grow in the mountainous regions from southern Mexico to Bolivia...
mexicana, GunneraGunneraGunnera is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants, some of them gigantic. The genus is the only member of the family Gunneraceae.The 40-50 species vary enormously in leaf size...
species, and Magnolia guatemalensis. - AgroecosystemAgroecosystemAn agroecosystem is the basic unit of study for an agroecologist, and is somewhat arbitrarily defined as a spatially and functionally coherent unit of agricultural activity, and includes the living and nonliving components involved in that unit as well as their interactions.An agroecosystem can be...
s with coffeeCoffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, riceRiceRice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, maizeMaizeMaize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, etc. - PasturePasturePasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
s with TillandsiaTillandsiaTillandsia is a genus of around 540 species in the Bromeliad family , found in the forests, mountains, and deserts, of Central and South America, and Mexico and the southern United States in North America....
species.
Fauna
The reserve has 885 species, about 70% of all species found in Guatemala and Belize, including threatened birds like the Resplendent QuetzalResplendent Quetzal
The Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno, is a bird in the trogon family. It is found from southern Mexico to western Panama . It is well known for its colorful plumage. There are two subspecies, P. m. mocinno and P. m...
(Pharomachrus mocinno), Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) and Horned Guan
Horned Guan
The Horned Guan, Oreophasis derbianus is a large, approximately 85 cm long, turkey-like bird with glossed black upperparts plumage, red legs, white iris, yellow bill and a red horn on top of head. The breast and upper belly are white, and its long tail feathers are black with white band near...
(Oreophasis derbianus).
Felines with a significant presence are the Jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
(Panthera onca), Cougar (Felis concolor), Onza
Jaguarundi
The jaguarundi is a small-sized wild cat native to Central and South America. In 2002, the IUCN classified the jaguarundi as Least Concern as it is likely that no conservation units, with the probable exception of the mega-reserves of the Amazon basin could sustain long-term viable populations. It...
(Puma yagouaroundi), Ocelot
Ocelot
The ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...
(Leopardus pardalis) and Margay
Margay
The Margay is a spotted cat native to Middle and South America. Named for Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, it is a solitary and nocturnal animal that prefers remote sections of the rainforest. Although it was once believed to be vulnerable to extinction, the IUCN now lists it as "Near Threatened"...
(Leopardus wiedii).
Other mammals in the reserve include the Red Brocket
Red Brocket
The Red Brocket , is a species of brocket deer from forests in South America, ranging from northern Argentina to Colombia and the Guianas...
(Mazama americana), the Mantled Howler
Mantled Howler
The mantled howler , or golden-mantled howling monkey, is a species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central and South America. It is one of the monkey species most often seen and heard in the wild in Central America...
(Alouatta palliata) and Baird's Tapir
Baird's Tapir
Baird’s Tapir is a species of tapir that is native to Central America and northern South America. It is one of three Latin American species of tapir.-Names:...
(Tapirus bairdii).
Jade Reserve
The southern area of Sierra de la Minas (translated in Spanish as the 'Mountain Range of the Mines’) is also known for its rich deposits of jadeiteJadeite
Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition NaAlSi2O6. It is monoclinic. It has a Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0 depending on the composition. The mineral is dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. Jadeite forms solid solutions with other pyroxene endmembers such as augite and diopside ,...
, (one of the two forms of jade) marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, serpentine, and other minerals. Smaller jadeite deposits have been rediscovered sporadically in the last 50 years, but it wasn’t until 1998 that a major source was identified.
Jadeite is found all over the world, in countries such as Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Turkestan
Turkestan
Turkestan, spelled also as Turkistan, literally means "Land of the Turks".The term Turkestan is of Persian origin and has never been in use to denote a single nation. It was first used by Persian geographers to describe the place of Turkish peoples...
. The other form, nephrite
Nephrite
Nephrite is a variety of the calcium and magnesium-rich amphibole mineral actinolite . The chemical formula for nephrite is Ca25Si8O222. It is one of two different mineral species called jade. The other mineral species known as jade is jadeite, which is a variety of pyroxene...
, is much more common, but of much less value. Blue jadeite is similar in structure to the different colors of jadeite; it is the trace elements found in the minerals that contribute to their color. The blue jadeite, for example, is known to have traces of titanium and iron. Jadeite and nephrite artifacts found in the new world were at one point thought to have been from Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
The region of Sierra de Las minas, along with the Motagua river valley, was used by older pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
civilizations such as the Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
and Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
as a source of jadeite. The jadeite was used for different purposes, such as for ritual objects and adornments. Because of their location between Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, the Maya became an important influence in Mesoamerican trade. Jadeite became an important export for the Maya, along with serpentine, salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
and cacao. It was assumed that these cultures amassed all of their jade from the Motagua River valley, the then only known source of jadeite, in central Guatemala near El Portón.
Rediscovery
Because jade was not desired in the colonial period, sources of the stone were forgotten. Since the 1950s, jadeite was thought to be in the region, as no other source for Olmec jade was recognized. It was not until 1999 when geophysicist Russell Seit found and reported the site that the extent of these deposits was known. Several influences in the United States spurred the search for this jade. Boston jade collector Landon T. Clay was one of the first individuals to sponsor the search for jade in the region. The Mesoamerican Jade Project of 1976 was initiated by the Peabody Museum of Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, to resolve the question of the jade’s location. Geophysicist Russell Seitz of Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
was chosen to be the field director of the project. However, the resulting trips remained mostly unsuccessful due to the lack of proper technology and the harsh conditions of the wild Guatemalan forests.
It was not until the 180 mph winds of hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane and the most destructive of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph . The storm was the thirteenth tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the season. Along with Hurricane Georges, Mitch...
stormed the region in 1998 that jadeite was again uncovered in the area. The storm unearthed previously unknown alluvial deposits of jadeite by flooding the Motagua River thirty-one feet past the flood stage. Other rivers such as the Rio El Tambor also began unveiling alluvial jade. Although the worth of this jade was fairly low (the more intense the green of the jade the more it is worth), prospectors and local shop owners began collecting shards found in the beds of these rivers. In 1999, Russell Seitz happened to be in one of these local jade shops in the town of Antigua when he noticed a large hand-sized sample of the rare blue-jadeite.
In 2000, Seitz started an expedition with prospector Carlos Gonzales Ramirez to find the source of the elusive jadeite. They traveled to El Ciprés, located in Sierra de Las Minas, miles north of the Motagua river valley. They trekked into the mountains and eventually found large veins of jadeite about 2 meters wide by 45 meters long. A site with jade boulders as big as buses was discovered, along with evidence that the site had been worked on for thousands of years.
When Seitz returned to the United States with a few samples, he had them tested and they were confirmed as high quality jadeite. This spurned more researchers to join him in his study of this site. The find was announced in a brief article written by Seitz for the December 2001 issue of Antiquity.
The archaeological connotation of the find was significant. The influence of the Olmecs was understood to be more spread than previously believed. Also found at the site was an ancient dry-stone pathway that led through the mountains to an old habitation and tomb site, filled with the remains of old clay shards. This road has expanded the preconceived size of the Olmecs' trade routes. It is still debatable as to why exactly this large cache of jadeite is still mostly intact. The Maya were known to use the green form of the jadeite for their carvings. And because the Spanish only sought the gold, the Olmecs would have had all the blue jadeite to themselves.
The Motagua valley is another source of jade in the area. The town of Río Hondo
Río Hondo
Río Hondo is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Zacapa.Rio Hondo, Which means "Deep River" in the English language, is known for its crystal clear river....
and its surrounding areas have yielded finds such as the “princesa” variety of jadeite. This valuable type of jadeite contains a translucent rich-green color. In 1996 prospector Carlos Gonzalez began searching the area for jade. He discovered a 140 lb boulder of jadeite that had a translucent, light blue color. The 7 km area from La Ceiba
La Ceiba
La Ceiba is a port city on the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. It is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean, forming part of the south eastern boundary of the Gulf of Honduras...
to Carrizal Grand contained similar Omec jade artifacts. Gonzales and colleagues discovered more examples in the southern tributaries of the Rio El Tambor located near Carrizal Grande and San José. In January 2002 they were led to the locality of Quebrada Seca, where they were shown a jade boulder that weighed in excess of 300 tons. Other archeologists such as François Gendron of France and Dr. Richard Mandell of the University of South Carolina began unearthing more samples of jadeite in the region. Gendron discovered a jadeite sample with a composition suggesting it was formed 80 to 90 km underground, much more than the expected 20 km, around which jadeite is usually known to form.