Archaeology of Teotihuacan, Mexico
Offerings at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid:
Greenstone General
Greenstone was used mainly for individual ornaments but also
for ritual objects.
They consist of:
Greenstone objects are mainly concentrated in the
central zone of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. Particularly, the
central grave (Grave 14) contained the richest greenstone artifacts
among those found to date in Teotihuacan (photo). Different qualities
of greenstone were used to produce various types of objects.
According to petrographic analyses by the laboratory of National
Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico, Teotihuacanos
consciously employed jadeite, serpentine, and fuchsita for different
categories of greenstone listed above. General quantitative data were
measured by Oralia Cabrera (1995), and an interpretation of symbolic
aspects of the materials was provided by Sugiyama (1995) in light of
burial contexts and iconographic information.
Last Update: 8/20/2001
Saburo Sugiyama: Arizona State University, Dept. of Anthropology,
Tempe, AZ 85287
Oralia Cabrera: Arizona State University, Dept. of Anthropology,
Tempe, AZ 85287
©Copyright 1996 Project Temple of Quetzalcoatl, Instituto
Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico/ ASU
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Greenstone objects are mainly concentrated in the
central zone of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. Particularly, the
central grave (Grave 14) contained the richest greenstone artifacts
among those found to date in Teotihuacan (photo). Different qualities
of greenstone were used to produce various types of objects.
According to petrographic analyses by the laboratory of National
Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico, Teotihuacanos
consciously employed jadeite, serpentine, and fuchsita for different
categories of greenstone listed above. General quantitative data were
measured by Oralia Cabrera (1995), and an interpretation of symbolic
aspects of the materials was provided by Sugiyama (1995) in light of
burial contexts and iconographic information.