By Carol Tedesco, Old World Survey and Recovery, Inc. © 2002

Artifact CCC 50049 was recovered from the 1622 Fleet, Santa Margarita shipwreck site during the summer 2000 season by crew diver Phill Short of Old World Survey and Recovery, Inc., subcontractors of Motivation, Inc. At the time of its discovery, the artifact was tentatively identified as a Pre-Columbian jade whetstone. My earliest inquiries into the artifact established that similar artifacts had been recovered from the Sea Hawk, Tortugas site project in 1991 and that these artifacts had been identified as whetstones.

As one of the more unique discoveries of the season, along with my partners Andy Matroci and Kevin Gurr, I began putting out inquires for more information as to its origin and possible uses. Our first aim of consideration was whether artifact CCC 50049 was in fact truly jade. Archaeologist Abraham Lopez of Motivation, Inc., examined the piece and did not believe that the material was truly jade. As described by the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, jade is actually "the common name for either of two minerals used as gems. The more rare variety of jade is jadeite, a sodium aluminum silicate, NaAl(SiO3)2, usually white or green in color; the green variety is the more valuable. The commoner and less costly variety of jade is nephrite, a calcium magnesium iron silicate of varying composition, white to dark green in color".

Internet searches produced a number of artifacts similar in appearance to CCC 50049, in each case identified both as "jade" and as a "pendant". While being a termed a pendant would not disqualify a piece from also having been a tool, the designation of jade, it seems, might sometimes be imprecise.

For example, one of the web sites I visited, in qualifying items of Pre-Columbian lithic (stone) art identified as jade, made the following proviso: "To further complicate matters, the "jade" axe god pendants found in both regions are actually made of jadite (sic), diopside, actinolite, and similar materials. The term jade here is used in its looser sense."

As stated previously, the name jade does indeed include both nephrite and jadeite, but considering the example of the above proviso it seems that the title of jade may also be commonly used to describe stone ornaments and tools made from other materials that, like nephrite and jadeite, range from green to white in color.

While working on a Spanish Colonial coin collection in Ecuador following the discovery of artifact CCC 50049, I had the opportunity to consult a local archaeologist, Javier Véliz Alvarado, of Museo Nahim Isaías B., an expert on artifacts of this nature. Sr. Alvarado was so considerate as to study the piece and write up his opinion for us. Archaeologist Catherine Gaither then kindly translated Sr. Alvarado's analysis, which follows. You will note that Sr. Alvarado refers to the artifact as a pendant, and to the material as slate.

From Sr. Alvarado:

My considerations:
Upon completion of the analysis of the stone object, allow me to inform you that:

1. This object is certainly from the Pre-Columbian epoch. The type of perforation found in the proximal area is conical on the visible side. But, it should be biconical and is a perforation that characterizes the artisans who are thought to be lapidaries or sculptors of the pueblo Indians. (Note: biconical drilling is a means of perforating pendants for suspension, accomplished by drilling in from both sides with a tapered drill, resulting in an hour-glass shaped hole.) 2. The slab is of stone and is reminiscent of that which we have in the Reserves of two museums of the city, we call this Pizarra (literal translation is slate). 3. The object is a pendant for (because of) the perforation, but it is also possible to interpret it as a type of necklace, although I am inclined toward the former, (and) that which is sculpted in the proximal area (near side), can be interpreted as decoration of the pendant. 4. With regard to the cultural affiliation and the comparisons made with the material deposited in the museum, the Bahía (literal translation is Bay) cultures of the Regional Desarrollo Period (500 BC - 500 AD) and the Manteño of the Integration Period (500 AD - 1530 AD) used this type of stone. 5. Certainly, the object is one that was made by the ancient Ecuadorian aborigines y because of that detailed above, the pendant is Manteño.

Theodore Wolf, in his work Geology and Geography of Ecuador, published in 1892, with two more editions, one in 1975 and if I remember correctly, the other in 1985, makes reference to the use of clay slates and comments: "The stones of this class, which have a fine, even grain, that are not too hard nor too soft, the ancient coastal Indians preferentially used for their small sculptures (figures of idols, humans, animals, and various utensils), as proved by the finds in the mounds" (1975:313).

Sincerely,

Javier Véliz Alvarado

Archaeologist - Museo Nahim Isaías B.

To conclude the results of our inquiries thus far, we learned that "string cut" is a designation commonly used in descriptions of artifacts such as CCC 50049. What "string cut" actually means though, is a quite remarkable method of cutting that is explained in an article by Dr. Herman Smith, published in the San Pedro Sun, an Ambergris Caye, Belize, publication. Dr. Smith writes of early Spanish reports in which the cutting of such pieces is achieved by "the sawing action of a cord drawn back and forth along grooves, using hard sand particles and water as a cutting agent. Holes were reportedly drilled with hollow bird bones filled with wet abrasives, starting at one end of the piece, then working from the opposite end such that the hole would be completed in the middle (biconical). As a result of this method, the holes would have a funnel-shaped entrance point, unlike a hole produced by a modern steel drill which leaves a round hole with the same diameter throughout."

Of course, such is the nature and intrigue of such finds that behind every question stands another question and then another. To whom did this object belong? Perhaps it was a souvenir being carried from the New World to the Old, intended as an exotic gift; or possibly a New World tool whose use was applied by a Spanish sailor. At the time of this writing I am not yet informed as to whether there were any Mestizo passengers or crew aboard the Santa Margarita. If so, that information would offer up yet another possibility for the journey of this artifact.

Many thanks to the experts who so very generously shared their time and knowledge on the subject.

Further acknowledgements: David Moore, Archaeologist, North Carolina Maritime Museum; Corey Malcom, Archaeologist, Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Museum; Carlos Saavedra, Robcar, S.A.