"Despite the fact that jade was the most valued material in Mesoamerica, we know little about its supply and production. In this work, we will describe specific objectives in the mining, transport, and comparative evidence for the production and distribution of jade objects. We then address the issue of relations between these producers and the elites or groups who controled the sources or exchange routes. Recent findings of jade workshops at sites in the Motagua River Valley and in the Peten will help to decipher the operation of this economic network. In addition, the present study will compare consumer sites of the Lowlands in order to clarify the way in which this material was exchanged. " (source éditeur)