Note 12 — EARLIEST HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS OF TURQUOIS MOSAIC IN MEXICO

Lehmann, in his Methods and Results in Mexican Research, Paris, 1909, writes: “Hardly less remarkable are the mosaics made of more or less precious stones, shells, etc. No less than twenty-three pieces are known in various museums, the finest being in London, Rome, and Berlin. The stones when cut to shape are embedded in a peculiar substance (tzinacanquauhcuitlatl) covering the whole surface of the object to be decorated; the latter were chiefly of wood, rarely of bone or stone. Two masks are skilfully prepared human skulls. The usual shapes are shields, helmets, knife handles and trinkets. The small cup-shaped heads and the double-jaguar in the Berlin Museum are of doubtful meaning. Most of these objects apparently come from the Eastern provinces, i. e., Tabasco. We know from other sources that it was only under king Ahuizotl, with the conquest of the Tzapotec district, that the Mexicans became acquainted with turkois-mosaics, shields, earrings, etc.” This is a translation of his Ergebnisse und Aufgaben der mexikanistischen Forschung, published in Archiv für Anthropologie, Neue Folge, band VI, heft 2 u 3, Braunschweig, 1907.