"The earliest known worked jade in Costa Rica (in the form of an axe god) was discovered at the site of La Regla on the Gulf of Nicoya."------1998, Juan Vicente Guerrero M., "The Archaeological Context Of Jade In Costa Rica," Jade In Ancient Costa Rica" p. 28.
    "One of the most typical forms of Pre-Columbian Costa Rican lapidary work is the so-called axe-god, in which an animal, human being or a composite effigy surmounts a celt-like polished blade."--------1998, Michael J. Snarskis, "The Imagery And Symbolism Of Pre-Columbian Jade In Costa Rica," Jade In Ancient Costa Rica, p. 63.
    "Common in the Costa Rican lapidary corpus are axe-gods with at first glance appear to be avian effigies. They are in fact part of a zoo-anthropomorphic continuum, with many jades having relative degrees of "birdness" and "humanness."."------1998, Michael J. Snarskis, "The Imagery And Symbolism Of Pre-Columbian Jade In Costa Rica," Jade In Ancient Costa Rica, p. 64.
    "Outstanding among Costa Rican jades is the form long known in that country as the  dios-hacha, or axe god. The term encompasses conveniently all the stylized figure pendants shaped as though they had been made from axes of petaloid celts."--------1968, Elizabeth Kennedy Easby, "Pre-Columbian Jade From Costa Rica," p. 26.
     "Costa Rican jadeite and greenstone artifacts can be divided into five basic categories: whole celt, half celt, quarter celt, and a general category of other forms. Most of the jade artifacts are pendants which appear to have been produced from raw material in the form of a celt."----1988, Mark L. Chenault, "Jadeite, Greenstone, And The Precolumbian Costa Rican Lapidary," Costa Rican Art And Archaeology, p. 99.
    "The most impressive jade pendant (found on the Lama Corral 3 site in Costa Rica) was a virtually three-dimensional quetzal (bird found in Mexico to Panama) effigy axe god"---------2013, Michael Snarskis, "An Elite Burial Ground With Jade And Usulutan Ceramic Offerings," Pre-Columbian Art & Archaeology, Essays In Honor Of Frederick R. Mayer, p. 75.
    "In Costa Rica, all artifacts made from green stone have traditionally been classified as "jade."---------1995, Marlin Calvo Mora, Leidy Bonilla Vargas & Julio San chez Perez, "Costa Rica, Gold, Jade, Forests," p. 77.

 
AXE GODS
COSTA RICA
est. 500 B.C. TO A.D. 900

     Costa Rica's cultural history is recognized the world over for its wide range of unique and skillfully crafted iconic imagery in stone. The most famous are the large stone spheres on the Diquis Delta that weigh up to 15 tons and the ceremonial metates, and jade axe gods. The appearance of axe god pendants in Costa Rica mark the beginning of a new level of social ranking and hierarchical order. An increase in food production at this time fueled a more complex society along with skilled artisans who produced finely crafted objects in wood and stone for wealthy individuals.

     The basic form of an axe god pendant is a celt, which is an ungrooved axe. But they were not made from working celts, they were made only to resemble celts.  Axe gods have been found at the neck and chest level of male, female, and child burials indicating they were worn as necklaces and as pendants. The people who owned them were members of wealthy and powerful families. The axe image relates symbolically to wood clearing tools. So it's possible that the owners of the best examples may have been heavily involved either politically or religiously in agricultural activities.

    Axe gods are known for their unique artistic styles, craftsmanship, and quality of stone. Most of them were made from one form of jade called jadeite. Jadeite is a stone that is recognized around the world for its color, durability and lustrous polishing qualities. Costa Rica's oldest dated axe god is also recognized as the oldest example of worked jade in the country.

    Axe gods are one of the most common forms of carved stone images in Costa Rica. The earliest example dates to 2500 years before present. It was found during the excavation of the La Regla site in the northwestern part of the country. Archaeologists excavated sixteen burials in 1989, 90 and 91. The site was actually flooded most of the time because it was located in a tidal zone on the gulf of Nicoya. Other artifacts found there were two carved wood sticks, 154 small wood beads, a stone metate and six pearls.

    Costa Rican axe gods were in production for more than a thousand years. The earliest example from La Regla dates to 500 B.C. Archaeologists mark three periods for jade production in Costa Rica; the "Initial Period" (500 B.C. to A.D. 300), the "Florescent Period" (A.D. 300 to 700), and the "Terminal Period" (A.D. 700 to 900). The Initial Period has an impressive beginning with jade artifacts found in elite burials along with ceremonial metates, maces and bichrome ceramics. The highest production of jade artifacts occurs during the 400 year long Florescent Period when an expanding trade with areas to the north in Honduras and El Salvador were established. The 200 year long Terminal Period represents the beginning of the end for quality jade artifact production. The items that were produced at this time are not as well made, generally smaller, made of less attractive stones, and fewer in number.

     The words jade and greenstone are often used generically to represent many different types of stone. In Costa Rica jade has been used in a way that often encompasses a wide range of stone, such as, serpentine, chalcedony, sandstone, tufa, lava and diorite.  But the word jade is used most often in the world to represent either jadeite or nephrite. Jadeite is the harder of the two stones that were once thought to be the same. The only type of jade that was used in Costa Rica was jadeite. The only recognized source for jadeite in Central America still seems to be from Guatemala's Motagua River Valley. Although there are "never-ending rumors" and personal accounts of discoveries of other sources in northwestern Costa Rica on the Santa Elena Peninsula in the province of Guanacaste. Analysis of jadeite samples from Costa Rica indicate that "with few notable exceptions jadeite artifacts are compositionally distinct from those of the north." The "multiple source" hypothesis for jadeite in Central America seems to be the most logical explanation. In-other-words, there is a high probability that another source of jadeite does exist in Costa Rica.

    Pre-Columbian cultures valued jade more highly than gold. Probably for it's color, hardness, durability, lustrous polish, and mythical importance. As a mythological belief, it's thought that the stone was associated with water, the green of young maize plants and fertility or all things agricultural. It's believed that the stone may have represented the basic vital force of life.

     There are several different styles of axe gods. Some are purely human forms while others have various animal traits, such as bat or feline. But the most common forms have an avian appearance mixed with different levels of "humanness." Some appear to be human forms wearing bird masks and headdresses or a human wearing a bird costume. The half man, half bird theme was recognized over a wide area in the Americas. A statue of an Aztec eagle warrior was found at Tenochtitlan that depicts a human dressed in an eagle costume. The warrior is looking out the open beak of the headdress. The lower beak forms a triangle under the head which is a shape that is often engraved under the head area on axe god pendants to represent an avian trait. Even as far north as the Cahokia Mounds site in the central Mississippi River Valley, people were depicting a human dressed in a bird costume.

     The most impressive axe god types are those representing human figures presented in serious poses. Some have clearly defined arms and carved legs. Other examples have human-like faces and long tongues that reach down to the waste. It's believed that these large tongues may represent either maize or falling water. Some of them have design features that seem to originate from Olmec culture. In fact, the idea of revering and embellishing celts originate with the Olmec hundreds of years before axe gods were produced in Costa Rica. There may not be a direct connection between the two cultures, but mythic legends may have preserved some of these ideas. The Olmec produced engraved and stelae-like forms of celts and Costa Rican craftsmen produced celts that were carved in high-relief.

     Jade axe god pendants were not cut and shaped in the same way softer stones were, with hammerstone pecking. The problem with jadeite jade is that it's almost as hard as quartz and any type of primitive manufacturing process is labor intensive. Costa Rican craftsmen worked jade by sawing, abrading, drilling, and polishing. The sawing process is actually an abrading process that was done with water and quartz sand. Sawing was done with either a cord or a piece of stone or wood. Cord sawing involved a cord made of either plant fibers of animal hide that was mounted on a wood bow. A water lubricated cord and abrasive quartz sand produced the "sawing" process that cut the jade. A hand-held piece of stone or wood applied in the same way will also cut or "saw." The drilling process is believed to have been done with a simple pump drill with either a stone bit for solid drilling or a piece of cane or bone for tube drilling. A hollow bone drill bit is reported to have been found in the bore of a stone plaque near Chalco, Mexico. Polishing is simply described as using fine abrasives or various rubbing surfaces. Jade working processes are generally best-guess descriptions. For example, no ancient pump drill has been found in Costa Rica but it's likely they were used in the drilling process.

     Some axe gods went through a unique manufacturing process that involved cutting them into multiple pieces but still maintaining each piece as a usable pendant. Some were cut into two or more segments across the face from top to bottom. Others were cut in quarter sections. Chenault (1988) refers to these pieces as half celts, split celts and quarter celts. When the process is finished, each segment of the axe god is still recognizable in some way as a celt form. One reason for segment cutting was to repair broken pendants. But examples of segmented pieces of unbroken and engraved pendants have also been found.

     Axes gods were power symbols among the wealthy elite. Many of them still project an aura of power. Unfortunately, only a small number of them were accurately recorded. Most axe god pendants were found either accidentally or dug for plunder. Ninety-nine percent of all Costa Rican jade artifacts that were found scientifically are connected to funerary remains. If they could only speak, what tales they would tell.

"REFERENCES"

1968, Easby, Elizabeth Kennedy, "Pre-Columbian Jade From Costa Rica."
1988, Chenault, Mark L., "Jadeite, Greenstone, And The Precolumbian Costa Rican Lapidary," Costa Rican Art And Archaeology.
1992, Graham, Mark Miller, "Art-Tools And The Language Of Power In The Early Art Of The Antlantic Watershed Of Costa Rica," Wealth And Hierarchy In The Intermediate Area.
1995, Mora, Marlin Calvo, Vargas, Leidy Bonilla & Perez, Julio San chez, "Costa Rica, Gold, Jade, Forests."
1998, Guerrero M., Juan Vicente, "The Archaeological Context Of Jade In Costa Rica," Jade In Ancient Costa Rica.
1998, Snarskis, Michael J., "The Imagery And Symbolism Of Pre-Columbian Jade In Costa Rica," Jade In Ancient Costa Rica.
2010, Evans, Susan Toby & Webster, David, L., "Archaeology Of Ancient Mexico And Central America An Encyclopedia."
2013, Snarskis, Michael, "An Elite Burial Ground With Jade And Usulutan Ceramic Offerings," Pre-Columbian Art & Archaeology, Essays In Honor Of Frederick R. Mayer.

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