The use of jade as a precious stone was popularized in Costa Rica around 500 B.C. Jade was so special in fact that it was considered more important than gold by the ancient inhabitants of Costa Rica. Although Costa Rica is widely recognized as the country in Central America with the best known tradition of using this stone, the discovery of jade has been centered primarily in one of the nation’s provinces: Guanacaste. The two main areas where jade has been found are Greater Nicoya (includes most of the Nicoya Peninsula in the Guanacaste province) and Linea Vieja in the northeast of the country near the Caribbean coast (in the Limon province). Sites in the Guanacaste region however tend to better recognized for jade, most likely because “the Nicoya Peninsula and the adjacent Guanacaste mainland were home to many ancient Americans.” Having more human beings in this area meant there were most established communities and opportunities for trade.

Archaeologists and anthropologists believe that jade was brought to Costa Rica from Mesoamerica and that the custom of carving the stone began with the Olmec culture. Oddly enough, “no source of the raw material has been identified in Costa Rica. Yet jade and other greenstones were widely used in Pre-Columbian times.” It is curious to think the material used for so many different purposes in Costa Rica has not actually been found in country, though there are rumors that it has in fact been unearthed in certain parts.

Jade was mainly used as an adornment for the human body and by all accounts implied the wearer possessed power. Jade has been found in the tombs of many ancient peoples in Costa Rica and continues to be discovered to this day. Interestingly enough, the use of jade in Costa Rica was shortlived as “excavations at the site of La Ceiba in the Tempisque Valley, Guanacaste, confirm that…use…continues only until approximately A.D. 900.” To check out pieces found in Guanacaste, visit the Museo de Jade in San Jose which showcases plenty of Pre-Columbian jade.

Miller Graham, Mark. Jade in Ancient Costa Rica, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998. Google Books. Web. 17 Dec 2012