Material testimonies of jade exchange between Teotihuacan and the Maya: artifacts and mural paintings

• Grant number: 12/02493-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: May 01, 2012
• End date: July 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Prehistoric Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Beatriz Borba Florenzano
• Grantee: Leila Maria França
• Supervisor: Bernd Walter Federico Fahmel Beyer
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán (UNAM), Mexico
• Associated to the scholarship: 09/07990-0 - The routes of jade in Mesoamerica: the long-distance exchange and political power in Teotihuacan (150-750 d.C.), BP.PD

Abstract

This project aims to collect data and bibliography on the interaction between Teotihuacan and the Maya area, concerning the symbolism and the circulation of jadeite from the Motagua River Valley in Guatemala, particularly the testimony produced in Teotihuacan mural painting. During development of the Major Project - which deals with the importation of jade and greenstones by Teotihuacan through long-distance trade and its ideological consequences - we find some evidence of movement of jade objects of Mayan elites, with strong symbolic content, during the Early Classic (200-600) - the same period in which Teotihuacan interacted with many Maya cities. Thus, this request meets the need to collect additional data on possible artifacts in Mayan style in Teotihuacan, as well as representations of jade in style and symbolism in the mural of Mayan palaces and many other spaces of the great city, which will help us to glimpse the symbolic aspects in trade. (AU)