tion
it very closely resembles a gigantic adze of granite, 57 centimeters
long and 34 centimeters wide, mentioned by A. Cha-vero,1 and
it has almost a counterpart in the green aventu-rine quartz adze now
forming part of the Christy Collection at the British Museum, and
formerly in the possession of Percy Doyle of the British Diplomatic
Service, differing from these two objects, however, in having no
ornamentation on the forehead, and in having four dull markings on
each ear, one under each eye, and one near each hand, which seemingly
could have served no other purpose than to hold thin plates or films of
gold, which the polished surfaces would not do. If this was so, no
trace of the gold can now be seen. From all appearances, this adze was
shaped from a boulder, since weathered surfaces, such as appear on all
sides of it, would be found only on an exposed fragment. The lapidarian
work on this piece is probably equal to anything that has been found,
and the polish is as fine as that of modern times. One point of
interest, which should not be lost sight of, is the removal of a
portion which has weighed fully two pounds. Why was this ? Similar
removals and divisions have been mentioned. On April 27, 1881, in a
paper read before the American Antiquarian Society, Philip J. J.
Valentini described two carved jadeites which showed similar treatment.
One was the Humboldt celt, a votive adze presented to Humboldt by Del
Rio in 1803, and the other, the so-called Leyden plate, which was found
by S. A. von Braam near St. Felipe, in Honduras, near the borders of
Guatemala, and given by him to the Leyden Museum. Both of these objects
are 9 inches in length and 3 1/4 inches in breadth, the former having a
thickness of 1 2/5 inches and the latter 1/5 of an inch. From the fact
that the two, if placed together, face to face, have exactly the same
outline, it is highly probable that they were originally part of one
and the same celt, and it is quite possible the remaining parts may yet
be found. In 1886, Professor Frederick W. Putnam exhibited before the
same Society a remarkable series of Nica-raguan and Costa Rican
jadeites, which were all ornaments, and showed that they had been made
by cutting celts which had been perforated by one or two drilled holes,
into halves, thirds, and
' Mexico A traves de Los Siglos, Mexico, 1886, p. 64.
