The artisans of Simojovel make everything from simple pendants to fine jewelry to elaborately carved animal and geometric figures. Complex pieces show superb workmanship and are greatly valued. The more difficult pieces include earrings, bracelets and necklaces of perfectly round, amber beads strung with semi-precious stones and precious metals.

These artisans use knives, water drills and lathes to turn the amber into a commercial product and if they are prosperous, they will probably own the specialized tools common to jewelers and dentists. The most common, simple pieces are hearts, closed fists, stars, crosses, rectangles and fangs.

Mayan Ice is from the Simojovel area of Chiapas and is hand polished by Mayan Indigenous (Tzotzil).  The pueblo of Simojovel It is high in the mountains of  Chiapas, at the very end of a pocked and rutted road. From here men climb the slopes of the mountain to burrow into tunnels barely wider than their own bodies. Working shirtless, barefoot, and often with the light of a single candle, they dig for dull nuggets of prehistoric tree resin – amber, the gift of the Mayan gods.

Assyrian writings of the tenth century B.C. and objects taken from fifth century B.C. Celtic tombs indicate amber was highly prized in the Old World. The fossilized resin was also an important trade item in the Mayan empire and scribes of the Spanish conquistadors tell of the Aztec emperor, Moctezuma, stirring his chocolate with an amber spoon.  Even today, amber amulets are placed on the arms of newborns in Mexico to assure them of spiritual protection.

Unlike Baltic amber, which is usually crazed and opaque, Mayan Ice is brilliantly translucent in shades of honey, cognac, burgundy red, and even a rare bottle green.  It may be perfectly clear or preserve bits of ferns or other fauna.

Of course, the most sought-after specimens contain insects: ants, moths, termites and others trapped twenty million years ago in the sticky sap of mammoth trees. Mining cooperatives in the Mexican highlands market the amber in its natural state, in polished
nuggets, or as cut and shaped stones or as jewelry.

Please see www.mayanice.com for more information