Description:
NATURAL RESOURCES. Exploitation and exchange of natural resources for the manufacture of luxury goods. Nature and origin of the beads of the necklaces and other stone artifacts of green or green-blue color.
Introduction. The funerary attire and offerings found in the burials of the necropolis of El Caño reflect a remarkable diversity of materials and production techniques. This shows that the Coclé chiefs found in their environment not only the basic subsistence resources, but also obtained raw materials to make sumptuary items that reflected their status. In the tombs of El Caño have been found earrings and necklaces of green stone beads, a color similar to jade, a monomineral rock widely used in different pre-Columbian cultures in Mesoamerica, part of the Intermediate Area and the Antilles but of uncertain provenance.