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In Classic Maya art, jade is so inextricably linked to images of Maya rulers that it is difficult to conceive of them without this precious stone. In fact, one of the more common ways of portraying the abject and pathetic state of captive elites is to have them stripped of their jade finery. Perhaps because of its ubiquity in Maya art, discussions of Maya jade have been largely descriptive. Although a great deal of attention has been paid to jade accoutrements, such as "Jester God" diadems, belt celts, and beaded skirts, research regarding the symbolic qualities ascribed to jade is not extensive. In volumes devoted to Mesoamerican jade, discussions of its symbolic meaning are generally limited to several paragraphs (e.g., Digby 1972; Lange 1993; Proskouriakoff 1974). One noteworthy exception is a work by Gutierre Tibón (1983), although it focuses primarily on the symbolism of jade in Late Postclassic central Mexico. This also holds true of the detailed study by Marc Thouvenot (1982), which concerns jade in sixteenth-century documents pertaining to the Aztecs.
In Maya studies, jade is often related to rulership and authority, wealth, water, maize, and centrality, themes that will be further discussed in this study (Fields 1991; Freidel 1990; Miller and Samayoa 1998; Taube 2000a, 2004b). In addition, it will be noted that jade embodies ancient Maya conceptions of wind and the breath soul. Much of the Classic Maya symbolism regarding jade has considerable time depth and can be readily traced to the earlier Olmecs. In fact, the Mayas seem to have identified jade with antiquity, both in terms of precious heirlooms passed down through generations and by the ritual use of the stone to communicate with the ancestors.
JADE AND THE FORMATIVE OLMEC
The use of jadeite is of considerable antiquity in the Olmec region, and excavations at the site of El Manatí, Veracruz, have yielded jadeite beads and polished celts dating to approximately 1500 b.c , well before the Olmec apogee at San Lorenzo (Ortiz and Rodríguez 2000:79). Although jade celts continued to be offered at El Manatí during the San Lorenzo phase (1150-900 b.c. ), this stone is notably rare at San Lorenzo (in this study, all dates are uncalibrated). During the Middle Formative period of La Venta (ca. 900-500