For millions of years, Jade has been of great importance to pre-Columbian societies in Latin America. Often related to agricultural deities that were made for the time. Pre-Columbian Jade was made by the Mayan and Olmec civilizations, who had a great interest and gave spiritual value to all the magnificent properties it possessed.
Many times we have asked ourselves questions such as where did these provinces get the Jade? This pre-Columbian stone was located mainly in the province of Guanacaste, its beaches and rivers being the most accurate source to extract the wonderful rock.
Guanacaste is a province located in Costa Rica; sparsely populated and one of the largest. Archaeologically speaking, this place is fantastic for its sculptures in Jade stone and ceramics, which were great works made by ancient civilizations and are still preserved for their great historical value.
Indigenous people who inhabited Costa Rica thousands of years ago, made objects with Jadeite and green gemstones such as Serpentine, Opal and Quartz, which were also called Jade even though they were not. Basically civilizations used this stone to make ornamental pieces, talismans, jewelry or for religious purposes. The Olmecs and the Mayans were deep believers in this mineral for its great healing powers.
Jade was a stone widely used in Guanacaste, the cradle in the manufacture of pieces with this mineral. Few Jade sources exist in the world, in fact only about twelve are known. Costa Rica has its main deposits; although it is believed that the Jade of this place is brought from a river in Guatemalabut, there is still not enough evidence to certify it.
Due to the large pieces made of this material, the Jade Museum was built, in order to exhibit the marvelous pre-Columbian sculptures made from this stone. Within this museum they also gave rise to archaeological pieces made of ceramics, bone and stone; although its greatest attraction are those made of precious stones.
The Jade Museum preserves more than six thousand archaeological pieces and among the most striking are: a Jade pendant in the shape of a bird, Olmec Jades and a god made of Jade found in the province of Guanacaste. There is no better place to learn about the history of Jade than this province of Costa Rica, original place of this precious stone, full of great stories and works of art.