News - Colombian Emeralds Identified in Panama Burials

Emerald PANAMA CITY, PANAMA— Phys.org reports that X-ray fluorescence, infrared spectroscopy, and photoluminescence have been used to confirm that five green stones found at two archaeological sites on Panama’s Pacific coastline are emeralds that were mined in Colombia more than 1,000 years ago.

News - Colombian Emeralds Identified in Panama Burials. Emerald PANAMA CITY, PANAMA— Phys.org reports that X-ray fluorescence, infrared spectroscopy, and photoluminescence have been used to confirm that five green stones found at two archaeological sites on Panama’s Pacific coastline are emeralds that were mined in Colombia more than 1,000 years ago. The emeralds were recovered from elite burials in the Gran Coclé region, at the sites of El Caño and Sitio Conte, which have been dated to around A.D. 800 to 1000. These tombs also contained artifacts such as gold, pyrite mirrors, and fossilized megalodon teeth. The chemical composition of the green stones from the tombs was then compared with the makeup of 22 emeralds from Ecuador and Colombia. The testing indicates that the five stones were likely carried some 435 miles north from Colombia’...