High-quality jadeite tool discovered in underwater ancient salt works in Belize

(Louisiana State University) Anthropologists discovered a tool made out of high-quality translucent jadeite with an intact rosewood handle at a site where the ancient Maya processed salt in Belize. The discovery of these high-quality materials -- jadeite and rosewood -- used as utilitarian tools, demonstrates that salt workers played an important role in the Classic Maya marketplace economy more than 1,000 years ago.

from EurekAlert! - Archaeology http://bit.ly/2Qcc7d6