Manufacturing Analysis and Non Destructive Characterisation of Green Stone Objects from the Tenochtitlan Templo Mayor Museum, Mexico

Abstract

In the archaeological excavations carried out at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs’ main ceremonial building, archaeologists have recovered hundreds of objects representing rich offerings corresponding to the foundation of the pre-Hispanic city until the Spanish conquest (1325–1521 AD). Among the recovered objects, a significant number of green stone artefacts, which were particularly appreciated by pre-Hispanic cultures, were found. They were produced using raw materials from the Mexico Basin and other Mesoamerican areas. Various green minerals (jadeites, antigorite, lizardite, diopside) and rocks (serpentinites and even green marble) may have been used in the production of these artefacts. Jadeite sources are located far away, in the Motagua river basin in Guatemala, and, as a result, we may expect that a limited number of jadeite objects arrived to Central Mexico through trade (Taube et al.