This part of the cultural catalog closely resembles the usual Nephite list, including silks and fine linens, neither of which existed in Mesoamerica. Since this list’s purpose is to demonstrate wealth—their same function in Nephite contexts—I read it as a Nephite description of prosperity that Mosiah and/or Moroni applied to the Jaredites. Alma 1:29, describing the prosperity of the righteous, offers a very close match: “an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth.” (I must also acknowledge that, in a non-monetary economy, clothing and ornamentation are two of the few possible manifestations of wealth, so the similarities in these lists may be as much by chance as by direct redaction.)
When riches become a goal rather than a result of righteousness, this same catalog of riches becomes a warning for the Nephites: “The people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry; and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel” (Alma 4:6).
Indeed, Nephi also applies the pejorative aspect of this list for a future generation he sees in a vision:
And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it.
And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots.
And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church. (1 Ne. 13:6–8)
As already noted, displaying riches as clothing is particularly Mesoamerican. (See commentary accompanying Jacob 2:12–13.) However, the frequent repetition of these associated items suggests that it is a formula rather than a description. For example, “lock, stock, and barrel” used to apply to pieces of a firearm, but we now understand it to mean “everything,” not the three particular items mentioned. I suggest that the catalogue of Book of Mormon luxury goods operates in the same formulaic way.
Maya art clearly depicts fine clothing. In addition to patterned cloth, the nobles wore elaborate necklaces and the men often had belt ornaments of precious greenstone. The Olmec clothing inventory is more sparse. There are a large number of lifelike three-dimensional figurines, but they are usually depicted without clothing, suggesting to me that they may have been adorned with actual cloth at times. Carved monumental art depicting actors in what are probably ceremonial situations, show the typical clothing as a loincloth and cape for the male. There is often a carved pectoral and in some occasions, elaborate headdresses. Diehl also describes the archaeological remains of Olmec personal ornamentation:
Personal ornaments made from greenstone include ear ornaments; chest pendants; perforated celts apparently worn on belts; and oblong and spherical beads used in necklaces, bracelets, and aprons. Tiny replicas of human ears, arms, and amulets may have been placed on idols or sewn on to clothing or headdresses. Other objects probably served as symbols of high rank or rulership. These include sharply pointed perforators or ritual bloodletters carved in the shape of awls and sting-ray spines, scepters, punt-shaped jadeite “canoes,” including one worked into the form of a human hand, and “yuguitos,” U-shaped carved stones decorated with were-jaguar faces and other Olmec symbols that make some sort of ball game paraphernalia.