The source of Mesoamerican jadeite was so lost to history that in 1875 famed German mineralogist Heinrich Fischer declared that ancient jadeite objects found in Maya sites were not fabricated from jadeite mined in America but were actually imported from the Orient. During this period Maya archaeology was a developing discipline and, based on these scientific geologic reports, archaeology came to the conclusion that natural jadeite sources were not found in Mesoamerica. This misconception was taught to young archaeologists. It is easy to realize that archaeology would fail to visualize that specialized Maya tools would be fabricated from a precious gemstone, especially since jadeite was not native to Mesoamerica. It was not until the 20th century that scientists began to investigate potential sources of Mesoamerican jadeite. This theory that jadeite was imported to Mesoamerica was challenged in 1900 by Thomas Wilson. While noting the natural occurrence of nephrite in Alaska and British Columbia, Wilson stated that the source of jadeite in Mesoamerica would eventually be located.
The fairy tale that jadeite sources did not exist in America was proven to be fictitious in the mid-20th century. Scientific work carried out after World War II by Robert Foshaq, the Smithsonian Institution’s curator of geology, led to a renewed interest in the quest for a source of jadeite. The first documented incident of a jadeite source in Mesoamerica occurred in 1952 when Robert Leslie discovered a field of jadeite boulders in the Montagua River Valley. In addition, Leslie discovered an ancient jadeite workshop along the Montagua River with an abundance of debitage as well as worked beads and the tools for jewelry-making.
One of the most intriguing stories surrounding the search and finding of the enigmatic source of jadeite reads like an adventure novel. It is a real-life account that weaves a mixed blend of adventure, scientific discovery, and romance, combined with financial success. Mary Lou Ridinger, a noted archaeologist and Jay Ridinger, a geologist, met while investigating the source of jadeite in the Montagua Valley. They were not only successful in their search for the mother lode, but they became husband and wife. The Ridingers explored the canyons and hills of the Montagua for the source, they hit pay dirt in 1975 when they discovered in situ jadeite boulders in the hills overlooking the Montagua River. Their success continued over the years, and the team went on to uncover numerous jadeite sources including the source of the rare Olmec Blue. The discovery of the source of the coveted blue jadeite proved that Olmec and Maya technicians had mined native jadeite in the Montagua Valley for 3,000 years and that jadeite was not been imported to Mesoamerica by seagoing traders. The success of the Ridinger team continued in their commercial ventures. They operate a viable jadeite mining and lapidary enterprise in Antigua, Guatemala. Their factory produces jadeite jewelry, carvings, and museum replicas of Maya masterpieces.
The fine carvings produced in Jade S.A., the Ridinger studios, are crafted by descendents of ancient Maya artisans. The contemporary artisans at Jade S.A. utilize diamond saws and high-speed hardened steel drills to work the tough jadeite into works of art. The traditional techniques of working jadeite are not used; these ancient skills remained a mystery.
The Ridingers and their crossover scientific colleagues have made large advances in identifying the sources of jadeite. It is ironic that these rediscovered sources are providing raw material for the descendents of ancient Maya artisans to assume their place in the world of art by creating jadeite masterpieces. The mystery of the source of jadeite led to the assumption by early-20th-century archaeologists that Maya tools were just “stone.” It would have been preposterous for archaeologists to identify the tool material as jadeite. That is why conventional doctrine stated that jadeite was not native to Mesoamerica. However, the ancient Maya techniques of shaping jadeite into tools remained a mystery until a fortuitous encounter deep in the rainforest of Chiapas.
The Rediscovery of Maya Tool Technology
At first the hum of the aircraft engine was barely audible above the omnipresent cacophony of millions of insects and birds dwelling in the surrounding rainforest. A gap in the rainforest canopy gave me a fleeting glimpse of the low flying Cessna 172 as the aircraft traversed its downwind leg, paralleling the broad river in preparation for landing. A wingover on its base leg lined up the red and white aircraft with the narrow slot hacked from the tangled jungle growth. The cleared swath formed a verdant tunnel that served as the landing strip at the ancient Maya city of Yaxchilan. The pilot expertly guided the aircraft through the precarious slot, which barely permitted wingtip clearance, for a safe landing. He touched gently down on the grass surface and rolled to a stop.
I watched this demonstration of precision flying in admiration. “Wow, that’s the way to travel in the jungle,” I mused. My back was stiff from traversing the Usamacinta River in a dugout canoe. It had been a two-day trip traveling downstream from Sayaxché, Guatemala to Yaxchilan. Two men climbed out of the aircraft, secured the plane to its moorings, off loaded their gear, and began to set up camp. I learned later that the taller man was the pilot. Rick Muyers, a Canadian bush pilot on a busman’s holiday, was wisely avoiding Canadian winters and spent these days traversing tropical archaeological sites by air. The passenger was an energetic man with an athletic appearance and confident movements. This was my first glance of Philippe Klinefelter, architect, sculptor, and the world’s foremost expert on Maya tool technology.
Later during that evening in March 1989, as the members of the expedition relaxed around the campfire, the two fly-in visitors joined our group. Philippe and I introduced ourselves, and we chatted about our interests in Maya archaeology and the fates that brought us together at Yaxchilan. Philippe immediately grasped the concept of my search for the lost technology of the Maya; it soon became apparent that we shared similar quests in probing for the lost secrets of the Maya. He recounted the decades of revelations he had experienced investigating and researching the enigma of ancient Maya tool technology. When Philippe described his success in uncovering the utilitarian character and composition of Maya tools, I was stunned with an overpowering thought! During all my research into Maya science and technology I had completely overlooked the one obvious point: None of the advanced construction engineering and fine artistry of the Maya that I had encountered could have been accomplished without the use of specialized tools. I now knew why the fates had brought us together at the ancient City of Yaxchilan.
All the great civilizations had special tool systems that were used to construct their cities. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, as well as the modern construction industry has specialized tool systems for all phases of construction: heavy tools for large jobs, hand tools for fine work, tools for lifting operations, and tools for transport. Maya engineers were no exception. I had overlooked a technological absolute that was the base requirement for the construction of engineering works as well as the art and architecture of the Maya. I had never considered the specific, specialized tools that were used by the Maya to create their wondrous cities. I soon learned that the study of tools was a common oversight in Maya archaeology, which never looked at the tools of the common laborer. Fate had been kind to bring us together and had presented us the opportunity to work together. For all my expertise in Maya technology, including cement fabrication, engineering mechanics for large structures, water-management systems, highway systems, long-span bridges, and transportation systems, I realized that I had allowed a black hole to reside within my cognitive system. I had overlooked the crucial system of mechanisms that unified the components of Maya technology into a whole: the specialized tools that shaped their scientific civilization. And here before me was the leading expert in that area that would provide not only the examples of Maya tool systems, but the sources of the raw material and the re-creation of ancient Maya techniques for tool fabrication. This work would solve the mysteries of Maya tools and would assist the Maya in changing their classification as a “Stone Age culture.” Our conversations initiated a whole new level of forensic engineering research to the lost technology of
the Maya and became an integral part of my search for the truth.
Philippe Klinefelter lives in Austin, Texas. His studio is located at the rear of his spacious property and is housed in a large, high-roofed structure offering light-filled interior space; the walls of the studio are flanked with broad entrance doors. The volume of the space and the oversized doors are required to permit the movement of large megaliths that are part of his work in creating monumental stone structures. The walls are covered with an array of shiny steel sculptor’s tools. Using these tools, huge colored stones, and creativity in this spacious studio, Philippe creates monumental sculptural works out of hard rock. His grand scale sculptures, some weighing 30 tons, have been installed as landmark centerpieces in parks and urban spaces, where they serve as fountains or memorials. Philippe also executes fine sculptures influenced by the style of Maya art. These works adorn the passenger terminal at Austin International Airport and serve as the artistic theme of multimillion-dollar residences designed around Maya architectural styles.
During my first tour to Philippe’s studio, we strolled through the cavernous space. I was enthralled with his style and the scope of his marvelous works in progress—maquettes of past and future projects were situated around the studio—but most of all I was intrigued by the vast array of steel sculptor’s tools available for his disposal. The racks on his wall were covered with specialized steel tools employed for the carving of hard igneous stone of contemporary sculptures The array included shiny steel implements of every shape and purpose, including chisels, awls, gouges, rasps, and levers of all sizes and shapes. These steel tools are examples of the highest quality of work fabricated by master tool-smiths of the Czech Republic. The gleaming steel tools were arranged on wooden peg boards in a rank and order that reflected their function and service application for fashioning stone into fine artwork.
Philippe guided me into another space adjacent to his studio. This display space was conformed and illuminated for a special purpose. In this inner sanctum, Philippe introduced me to the analogous tool technology accomplished by Maya craftsmen. He introduced me to the world of precision tools crafted by Maya artisans; the walls on this room are covered with a display of the diverse geometry of Maya tool fabrication. The display features hundreds of Maya tools, including chisels, gouges, drills, axes, adzes, blades and other tools fabricated from black jadeite and obsidian. I strolled around the room permitting my eyes to wander over the marvelous examples of the priceless treasures that Maya lapidaries and technicians had fashioned into specialized tools. These tools were used for the myriad variety of tasks required to build the Maya civilization. My observations recognized specific chloromelonite tools that were designed for various tasks, including fine sculpture, stone cutting, construction, mining, agriculture, and numerous other technical applications. The task of recognization was easily accomplished because the tools of Maya craftsmanship replicated the functional geometry of modern instruments.
To be introduced to the fine workmanship of ancient technicians and being able to observe the diverse array of black jadeite tools was a unique opportunity. However, Philippe had another mind-boggling demonstration for me. He reached into the collection and selected ancient Maya tools of various sizes and functional shapes; he laid these tools on the work table. He then selected modern hardened steel tools from the studio walls and placed them alongside the black jadeite tools. The tools were produced a thousand years apart but they were of similar shape and size! The ancient jadeite tools and the modern steel tools that he had selected were comparative examples of similar tools of a different age and culture that had been fabricated for similar stone-working tasks. He was demonstrating how ancient tool-makers and modern tool designers solved their approach to a similar stone-cutting task by creating tools of similar sizes and shapes.
Without an audible explanation, Philippe clearly made his point. His demonstration made visible the anthropological logic termed comparative studies. When a civilization reaches a specific level of sophistication, it will develop similar solutions to similar problems as that of parallel cultures. Maya technicians had developed the same type of tools to carry out their tasks a millennium prior to the time period when the modern steel tools were designed and forged. Tools have been an integral supplement to the human hand since the beginning of civilization. The geometrical shape of Maya tools appeared to be discipline-specific, and their functional characteristics appear to be driven by ergonomics required to perform a task. The approach to a specific design solution has not changed in a thousand years. The geometrical design of the chloromelonite tools were shaped by the logic demanded by the scale and quality of the task proposed for that tool. From the evidence of the comparative work products laid on the work bench before us, it was apparent that skilled Maya sculptors and stone-cutters had encountered similar issues as modern tool-makers and they achieved a viable solution in the same manner. The comparisons made it apparent that the Maya craftsmen shaped their tools in the same series of geometrical sets as modern tool designers.
In the decades since our fortuitous meeting at the ancient city of Yaxchilan, Philippe has expanded his knowledge of the ancient crafts by replicating the technical means and methods used by the ancient ones in fabricating the vast variety of Maya tools uncovered by Philippe. During this period I have joined him in his quest to advance the knowledge of Maya tool technology, the methodology used by Maya sculptors in carving stone and supports his efforts to find the source of tool materials. I have researched the methodologies used by Maya stone-cutters in the construction of the monumental stone and concrete structures. My contribution is based on the application of my background in forensic and structural engineering, the physical sciences, and Maya building construction technology. Philippe has greatly advanced the knowledge and awareness of Maya tool materials, fabrication, and technology, and has led the research and investigation effort as a hands-on sculptor and an innovator in replicating the ancient methods of Maya tool fabrication. The search has led him on a long and winding trail, following a path has been steeped in intrigue. We have followed the mysterious quest into the basements of museums, disseminating information on tools by delivering scientific papers and demonstrations of tools and tool fabrication at international symposia, filming demonstrations of tool-making for the History Channel, field expeditions to the sites of jadeite sources, and investigation of ancient Maya jadeite workshops.
Our quest for the source of Maya jadeite exploitation has taken us to the Montagua valley, where we observed ancient jadeite mining sites, ancient workshops with jadeite debitage, and ancient tool-making, and we have investigated the ancient Maya city of Guyatan, a city that was a center for mining and the lapidary production of jadeite jewelry and tool production. At Guyatan we examined a green jadeite boulder that had been partially worked, then abandoned. The methods of working and shaping the boulder were similar to the techniques that Philippe had reconstructed in his tool-making research. During our survey of the nearby jadeite sources we encountered jadeite boulders where “blanks” for making tools had been incised in the boulder and then abandoned. Philippe’s research on Maya tool technology was featured on a History Channel production. During the filming of that production he demonstrated Maya tool-making technology before the cameras. Philippe’s ground-shattering research and techniques into Maya jadeite has not been one-dimensional. He not only collected and assessed the capabilities of Maya tool production, but he has become a master at replicating the original techniques for fabricating Maya tools made from jadeite and obsidian materials. All the while he has maintained his initial quest; Philippe’s goal is to completely understand the techniques used by the Maya sculptors and how they used their tools to produce their sculptor’s art.
Revealing the Secrets of Fabricating Ancient Maya Tools
Philippe uses tools that were once well-kept secrets of Maya artisans and, after the Classic Period, their use was lost to living memory. He has mastered the process of Maya t
ool-making and the techniques of carving stone and wood used by Maya sculptors. He locates and collects raw tool material at the source, prepares the materials used for tool-making, and fabricates the tools using the same ancient techniques employed by Maya craftsman, but the ancient skill did not come easily. The role of becoming a master craftsman of Maya tools was a difficult journey to follow. The lack of academic studies, artifacts, and materials research on Maya tools made finding the starting point difficult. The clues to the truth were difficult to find and, as one can assume, fate had to take a hand in finding the solution. Philippe has always had an interest in art and architecture; his architectural training at the University of Texas and his training as a sculpture honed the passion for his quest.
His interest in the Maya culture led him to move to Mexico. He resided in southern part of Mexico in the state of Quintana Roo. His home in the outskirts of the city of Chetumal was located on the Hondo River. In the 1970s, tropical hardwoods were harvested in the rainforest and floated down the Hondo River to the saw mills near Chetumal. Philippe was sculpting works from tropical exotic hardwood. His raw material was readily available from the salvaged log ends and burls that he hauled from discards at the local sawmill.
The area was populated with living Maya, and sites of ancient Maya cities were located nearby including Bacalar, Kohunlich, and the Rio Bec sites. As Philippe worked on his sculptural projects, he also spent time exploring the Maya ruins. It was while examining the sculptural works in the ancient cities that he began to wonder how the ancient Maya could cut and carve hard wood and stone sculptures with such style and accuracy without the use of metal tools. What were their tools like and what were the unique techniques of carving used to produce the exotic art? He had no guidance from archaeological disciplines because Maya tool making and their uses had not been explored.
The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology Page 11