“Jade is Not A Mexican Mineral…”

Contained within the pages of both the 1926 Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men and the 1931 Lost Continent of Mu are the following statements:

Illustration of the "Little Chinaman" from Lost Continent of Mu page 234

The “Little Chinaman” from Lost Continent of Mu page 234

The Little Chinaman.
“This image proves with indisputable evidence that the people who lived ages ago in the Valley of Mexico knew and were familiar with the Mongolian type. The ruin in which I found the Chinese image was in the remains of the third or lowest civilization thirty feet down from the surface in the pit which I had dug at San Miguel Amantla, near Halue-pantla, nineteen miles from the national palace in Mexico City. The first (upper) civilization, marked by a cement floor, and walls of a concrete building I found at a depth of eight feet. Eleven feet below this was the second (middle) civilization of about the same grade of development as the first, and 30 feet 3 inches from the surface of the ground I came on a bed chamber, or tomb, I do not know which, in the third stratum of ruins, which contain the finest artefacts I have ever seen in Mexico. I am inclined to think the room was thirty feet square, its walls were made of concrete and crushed down to within a foot of their bases. Below was a tomb. In the center, on a raised rectangular platform, also of concrete, lay the skull and some of the bones of a man who could not have been more than five feet in height. His arms were very long, reaching almost to the knees, and his skull was decidedly of a Mongolian type. Around his neck had been a string of green jade beads. Green jade is not a Mexican mineral.
Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men; pages 215-216; 1926
Lost Continent of Mu; pages 235-236; 1931

Niven appears astonished that he found images of all the southern Asiatic races. It would have been more astounding if he had not, because the people of southern Asia and the people who built these now buried cities both came from the same Motherland.
Niven notes that he found green jade beads and that green jade was not a Mexican mineral. Le Plongeon discovered in the tomb of Queen Moo of Mayax a green jade ornament which he called “Queen Moo’s Talisman.” I have examined this ornament and can safely say it is not New Zealand jade, so that the green jade found in Mexico must have come there either from China or from the Motherland.
Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men; pages 219; 1926
Lost Continent of Mu; page 239; 1931

The Calakmul Mask was found in Tomb 1 in Structure VII, in the archaeological zone of the same name, in the state of Campeche, whose antiquity goes back to 660 and 750 AD [Credit: MNA-INAH]

On the other hand, coverage of a recent display at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City shows the burial mask of a Mayan ruler from the 7th century A.D. with the following quote from the curator:

The curator, Pilar Cuairan, indicated that given its beauty and sacred connotation, jade was the most important component of funerary masks of Mayan sovereigns, whose funerary attire gave them the identity they needed in order to travel to the underworld, and the mask gave them the face of the god of corn. She added that jade was a Stone associated with water and it was related to the sky and the sea as principal elements of creation, as symbols of breath, fertility and rebirth.

Further exploring the subject, included in one of James’ scrapbooks are two articles labeled “Niven’s Buried Cities.” Both articles are reproduced in full in Lifting the Veil on the Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Men. The second of these articles contains the following text:

Now comes the curious Chinaman. Buried for at least fifteen hundred years, possibly more, to prove to the world that the Mongol was known in Mexico when the Wise Men followed the star to Bethlehem. The image is not an idol; nine-tenths of the figurines which are called idols in Mexico were, indeed, never intended as objects of worship. It is an ornament for the house of some prehistoric noble, probably the same man whose crumbling skull, shell money, jade ornaments and flower vase were found scattered round the Chinese images. (entire paragraph lined out on original)

“This image,” says Professor Niven, “proves with indisputable evidence that the people who lived in the Valley of Mexico ten or fifteen centuries ago knew and were familiar with the Mongol type. The ruin in which I found it was in the remains of the third civilization in the pit which I had dug at San Miguel Amantla, near Tlalnepantla, nineteen miles from the National Palace in Mexico City. The first civilization, marked by a cement floor and the walls of a concrete buildings, I found at a depth of eight feet. Eleven feet below it was the second civilization, of about the same grade of development as the first, and, thirty feet and three inches from the surface of the ground I came upon a bedchamber, or tomb, I do not know which, in a third stratum of ruins, which contained the finest artefacts I have ever seen in Mexico.

“I am inclined to think the room, which was thirty feet square, its walls made of concrete and crushed down to within about a foot of their bases was a tomb. In the centre on a raised, rectangular platform, also of concrete, lay the skull and some bones of the skeleton of a man, who could not have been more than five feet height. His arms were very long, reaching almost to his knees, and his skull was of a decidedly Mongoloid type. Around his neck had been a string of green jade beads, another link which binds Mexico to China, for real jade has never been found in Mexico in a natural state. (the last sentence underlined in red on original)

Have a great day.

Comments are closed.