[meteorite-list] Olmec hematite

From: E.P. Grondine <epgrondine_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:57:56 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <924631.14694.qm_at_web36913.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Hi all -

You often see annecdotal mentions of meteorites being
recovered in Mayan burials, but I am not sure if these
specimens have been properly identified. Consider the
following Olmec (Zoque) images, in particular the
third one down:

http://www.mesoweb.com/lords/origins.html

Here a small bit of hematite is used for a mirror.
The question is was this hematite used to emulate a
meteorite in the model, or was the model's hematite
just a smaller piece of the usual hematite used?

Besides being used for mirrors, hematite can be used
for red ink, and mayan scribes are often depicted
having a small ink conch marked with the mirror
(hematite) sign stuck in their headbands.

Conversely, its possible these particular peoples
thought of iron meteorites in terms of celestial
hematite.

good hunting,
Ed

 



 
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Received on Mon 19 Feb 2007 02:57:56 PM PST