Pair of Earflare Frontals 3rd–6th century Maya These beautifully carved jade ornaments are "earflare frontals." Set into a wide perforation in the wearer’s earlobe (as earspools are today), these ornaments would have been anchored in place in various ways. In some cases, a bead (or beads) were set into the front of the earflare, anchoring it with the help of a set of beaded counterweights that were threaded through the earflare and hung behind the earlobe. Another possibility is that an L-shaped plug (likely made of wood) was fitted through the earflare’s central opening, or stem, from the bac

Pair of Earflare Frontals 3rd–6th century Maya These beautifully carved jade ornaments are "earflare frontals." Set into a wide perforation in the wearer’s earlobe (as earspools are today), these ornaments would have been anchored in place in various ways. In some cases, a bead (or beads) were set into the front of the earflare, anchoring it with the help of a set of beaded counterweights that were threaded through the earflare and hung behind the earlobe. Another possibility is that an L-shaped plug (likely made of wood) was fitted through the earflare’s central opening, or stem, from the back, holding the entire assemblage in place, snug against the wearer’s ear (for examples, see the earflare assemblages worn by the figures on ).The word "jade," when used in Mesoamerican contexts, refers specifically to jadeite. This mineral comes in a startling array of colors (from purple to green to cloudy white), though bright green and deep blue-green varieties were most prized by the ancient Maya. All Mesoamerican jade comes from a single source, located in the Motagua River Valley of eastern highland Guatemala. Such a restricted point of access made jade a particularly rare and valuable material, an important element in elite trade networks and economic exchange systems in the ancient Maya approaches 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness (diamond has a hardness of 10), so it is extremely difficult to carve. In order to transform a raw jade boulder into a polished, finished form, specialists used a combination of percussion and abrasion techniques (such as pecking, grinding, sawing, incising, and drilling). This work was repetitive, time consuming, and required a highly specialized skillset. Creating a finished piece from the rough boundaries of raw jade would have been enormously slow and difficult work, a fact that would have likely increased the value and preciousness of the final was considered the most precious of all materials in

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