Mary Lou Ridinger (born 1945 in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

) is an American archaeologist. She holds a B.A. in Latin American Studies from the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

and an M.A. in

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

from the University of the Americas After her graduate studies, Ridinger lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and worked on a number of archeological digs in the country, including the excavation preceding the construction of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

's subway system. She is known for her discovery of the in-situ jade quarry sites in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

that had been lost since the time of the Spanish Conquest of the Americas.

Discovery of Guatemalan Jade Sources

Ridinger is widely regarded among scholars as the first archaeologist to discover the in-situ locations of the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

Maya

jadeite Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition sodium, Naaluminium, Alsilicon, Si2oxygen, O6. It is hard (Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0), very tough, and dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. It is found in a wide range of colors, bu ...

jade quarry areas. In 1975, In partnership with her late husband Jay Ridinger, Mary Lou Ridinger discovered three distinct sources for jadeite in the

Motagua river The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the ...

valley of Guatemala, and also discovered tools and other indications that pre-Columbian Maya artisans had worked the material at the source site. In years that followed, Ridinger and her husband discovered new types of jade that had previously been unknown, uncovering in 1987 a dark colored jade with

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

inclusions now dubbed "Galactic Jade" and followed in 1998 by the discovery of a lavender variety of jadeite.

Jade Enterprise in Guatemala

Jadeite crafts and jewelry is now a staple craft industry in Guatemala. In 1975, Mary Lou and Jay Ridinger opened Jades S.A., the first post-conquest jade workshop in the western hemisphere, and began training stone carvers to work with the very dense mineral. She is recognized by such organizations as The Explorers Club and the

Marquis Who's Who Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...

as the founder of the modern jade business in Guatemala. Notable figures such as President Bill Clinton and actor

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...

have visited her business in

Antigua Guatemala Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque-influenced architec ...

and commended her work. Jades S.A. is now frequently visited by foreign dignitaries as well as local government officials and houses a sizeable museum wing illustrating the history and timeline of the use of jadeite by the Maya and pre-Maya inhabitants of Central America.

Public Recognition

She has been featured in National Geographic (Sept 1987 Vol. 172 no.3), the Discovery channel (June 5, 1999, "The Mystery of Jade"), and numerous other publications and media appearances. She and her late husband Jay Ridinger's story has been featured in a recent book, Stone of Kings (2012) by Gerard Helferich.

Philanthropy

In 2008, upon a successful campaign to divert a highway project from running through portions of the Izapa archeological site, Ridinger and her sister Georgeann Johnson founded The Maya Conservancy, a 501c non-profit organization with the stated mission "to aid in the preservation and protection of Maya and Pre-Maya archaeological sites throughout Central America and Mexico, in the preservation and conservation of Maya Cultural Heritage, and in educational guidance and financial assistance to private and governmental bodies in these countries." The Maya Conservancy has notable Maya scholars on its board, such as Dr. David Sedat from the Copan project and Dr. Robert Sitler.

References

External links

* Mary Lou Ridinger's Personal Website http://marylouridinger.com/ * Mary Lou Ridinger's Business Website http://www.jademaya.com * Mary Lou Ridinger's Philanthropic Website http://www.themayaconservancy.com * NY Times Mention https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/24/travel/a-mayan-past-a-latin-present-in-guatemala.html?pagewanted=2 * WSJ Review of Stone of Kings (Helferich 2012) https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203935604577066063066160448 * TEDx Talk http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Maya-Cosmology-the-Real-2012-Ma;search%3Atag%3A%22TEDxSanMigueldeAllende%22 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridinger, Mary Lou 1945 births People from Fort Worth, Texas American archaeologists Living people American women archaeologists