Minas Mountains

The Sierra de las Minas stretches across eastern Guatemala between the Motagua and Polochic valleys. Clouds gather around its high ridges and sustain extensive forests, while streams descend toward the drier country below. Deposits of jadeite occur along the Motagua, on the range's southern side. Before the Spanish conquest, stoneworkers extracted and shaped the precious mineral; jade from the valley travelled to Maya cities in the lowlands and beyond.