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Throughout the pre-Hispanic era, amber was a mineral product highly valued in the creation of ornaments. It is a gem of organic origin, the product of the fossilization of plant resin that occurred over more than twenty million years in the highlands of northern Chiapas.
Amber is a fossil resin of great transparency and luster, whose only known deposits in Mesoamerica are located in the highlands of northern and central Chiapas. Since pre-Hispanic times, it was highly prized for the creation of ornaments and for commercial exchange; according to archaeological evidence and information recorded in historical sources, it reached distant regions such as the Central Highlands, Oaxaca, the Gulf Coast, the Zoque region of western Chiapas, and the Maya area.
The deposits of Chiapas
Although there are deposits in other parts of the world, Chiapas amber presents special characteristics. In its natural state, it appears in the form of yellow, reddish, or golden nodules within strata of marine calcareous sandstone and layers of lignite in geological formations corresponding to the end of the Oligocene and the beginning of the Miocene, with an age of 22.5 to 26 million years. It has been determined that its paleobotanical origin was the resin of a legume of the genus *Hymenaea*, an ancestor of the tree known locally as "guapiñol."
For a resin to transform into amber, various factors are necessary. In the first place, by being quickly covered by vegetation and soil, it resists the decomposition caused by sun, rain, air, extreme temperatures, and microorganisms. After millions of years, the resin hardens, its essential oils are reduced, and it turns into amber.
The deposits currently being exploited are located in ravine areas that are periodically washed away by rains, thereby exposing the amber-bearing strata. The Huitiupan-Simojovel region, in the mountains of northern Chiapas, is especially famous for its production. Another important source is located in Totolapa, on the descent toward the Central Depression, and more deposits have been reported in Ostuacán and Mal Paso, further west. Today, amber amulets continue to be used in the traditional way among various indigenous groups in the region to protect children against the "evil eye," although during the colonial period its primary function was the making of rosaries.
Regarding the deposits, of interest is the comment by Friar Francisco Ximénez about amber stone in his *Natural History of the Kingdom of Guatemala*, written in Sacapulas in 1722:
This, which among Spaniards is called *reuma*, is found in America. It is a mineral, from where it is extracted, or a quarry. And it is found in this Kingdom of Guatemala in the Province of Chiapa in a town called Totolapa, and I understand it is also in Chiapa de Indios. It is worked very well by those Indians, from which they make rosaries, and images, and many curiosities, and it smells strongly, especially when rubbed so that it warms up, and then it lifts a straw high.
In this case, Ximénez is referring to the Totolapa deposit; it is possible that there was indeed some type of control over the exploitation of amber from this source by the ancient Chiapanec capital. Noteworthy is the complete integration of amber into Christian worship during the colonial era, as it was used to craft rosaries and images, and its ability to acquire an electric charge through friction was recognized.
Amber is a fossil resin of great transparency and luster, whose only known deposits in Mesoamerica are located in the highlands of northern and central Chiapas. Since pre-Hispanic times, it was highly prized for the creation of ornaments and for commercial exchange; according to archaeological evidence and information recorded in historical sources, it reached distant regions such as the Central Highlands, Oaxaca, the Gulf Coast, the Zoque region of western Chiapas, and the Maya area.
The deposits of Chiapas
Although there are deposits in other parts of the world, Chiapas amber presents special characteristics. In its natural state, it appears in the form of yellow, reddish, or golden nodules within strata of marine calcareous sandstone and layers of lignite in geological formations corresponding to the end of the Oligocene and the beginning of the Miocene, with an age of 22.5 to 26 million years. It has been determined that its paleobotanical origin was the resin of a legume of the genus *Hymenaea*, an ancestor of the tree known locally as "guapiñol."
For a resin to transform into amber, various factors are necessary. In the first place, by being quickly covered by vegetation and soil, it resists the decomposition caused by sun, rain, air, extreme temperatures, and microorganisms. After millions of years, the resin hardens, its essential oils are reduced, and it turns into amber.
The deposits currently being exploited are located in ravine areas that are periodically washed away by rains, thereby exposing the amber-bearing strata. The Huitiupan-Simojovel region, in the mountains of northern Chiapas, is especially famous for its production. Another important source is located in Totolapa, on the descent toward the Central Depression, and more deposits have been reported in Ostuacán and Mal Paso, further west. Today, amber amulets continue to be used in the traditional way among various indigenous groups in the region to protect children against the "evil eye," although during the colonial period its primary function was the making of rosaries.
Regarding the deposits, of interest is the comment by Friar Francisco Ximénez about amber stone in his *Natural History of the Kingdom of Guatemala*, written in Sacapulas in 1722:
This, which among Spaniards is called *reuma*, is found in America. It is a mineral, from where it is extracted, or a quarry. And it is found in this Kingdom of Guatemala in the Province of Chiapa in a town called Totolapa, and I understand it is also in Chiapa de Indios. It is worked very well by those Indians, from which they make rosaries, and images, and many curiosities, and it smells strongly, especially when rubbed so that it warms up, and then it lifts a straw high.
In this case, Ximénez is referring to the Totolapa deposit; it is possible that there was indeed some type of control over the exploitation of amber from this source by the ancient Chiapanec capital. Noteworthy is the complete integration of amber into Christian worship during the colonial era, as it was used to craft rosaries and images, and its ability to acquire an electric charge through friction was recognized.