If
so, they must have existed in some abundance; and they have not been
reworked from other objects, as are the larger pieces, like the Costa
Rican celts. Can it be that the large pieces came from lower Mexico,
and, after use as implements, were bartered, but being green stones,
which have been given preference the world over by savages and
barbarians, and here were considered precious, were made into votive
objects? Among other green stones used by the ancient Mexicans were
green jasper, green plasma, serpentine, a fine-graded green shale and
the Tecali marble, which was often of such a rich green color that at a
glance it might be mistaken for jadeite.
Dr.
Heinrich Fischer, who gave much time to the study of this subject,
endeavored to prove that the jadeite objects found in Mexico and
Central America were of Asiatic origin and were brought to this
continent by migration. The facts above mentioned, in connection with
the slicing and division of the adze and other objects, implying a
scarcity of the material, and the further fact that Burmese jadeite,
when green, if exposed to a high temperature, assumes the
brownish-green color presented by some of the Mexican objects when
subjected to the same process, all tend to support Dr. Fischer's
theory. On the other hand Dr. A. B. Meyer, Director of the Ethnological
Museum at Dresden, and others, firmly believe in the indigenous
character of this material. In support of this the following reasons
are advanced: First, large objects such as celts, entirely devoid of
ornamentation, are occasionally found. Second, that objects sliced from
celts and axes have been found which were subsequently carved and
ornamented, as if the beauty and durability of the material had been
recognized. Third, that in strings of beads one or more made of
jadeite, not forming a central ornament, or put in such a part of the
string as to show that they were considered of more importance than
the others, but apparently selected for their size, have been found.
Fourth, it is also probable that the Mexicans never knew of the
existence of the true veins of this mineral, these veins, perhaps,
occurring on the summits of some of the higher mountains and the
material used by the natives being found in the form of boulders and
fragments in the valley below, where it had been transported by the
mountain
