Colombian 

 Emeralds 



The World's 

 Finest 



by Peter C. Keller 



ew gemstones on the world market today pro- 

 vide the aura of adventure and intrigue, wealth and 

 beauty that we find in the emerald. Indeed, the mys- 

 tique of these gemstones dates from the early days of 

 the Roman Empire, when stones from the now long- 

 lost Cleopatra mines in Egypt were first worn as 

 jewelry. Although the Egyptian mines may have pro- 

 vided the Western world with the first such emeralds, 

 and such gems were later found in Russia, Austria, 

 and Brazil, the finest emeralds are of Colombian ori- 

 gin. 



The history of the Colombian emerald mines is a 

 checkered one, beginning with the Spanish con- 

 querors' cruel enslavement of local Indians to work 

 the deposits — one of the factors leading to a rapid 

 decimation of the Indian population. Even in recent 

 times, violence and murder was so prevalent at 

 Muzo, Colombia's major mine, that it was forced to 

 close down in the early 1970s. 



By the time the Spanish arrived in South and 

 Central America in the early 1500s, large quantities 

 of emeralds were already in use by the natives of 

 Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico, suggesting 

 that the mining of these gemstones and their use as a 

 trade item had been going on for some time. Monte- 

 sinos, a priest in Peru between 1628 and 1642, wrote 

 that emeralds were among the spoils of Sinchi Roca 

 when that Inca leader conquered Cuzco, Ecuador, in 

 ad. 1100. The Spaniards found emeralds being used 

 as human adornment and as sacrificial offerings in 



Some 15,000 guaqueros (literally "treasure hunters") are found 

 every day searching river beds for emeralds washed down from Co- 

 lombia's main emerald-mining area, Muzo. Their lifestyle is much 

 like that of our own Forty-Niners during the California Gold Rush. 



Peter C. Keller, Ph.D. is associate director, Public Programs, of 

 the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. 



