According to Glenn Scott, the "precious things" referred to in Ether 9:17 could refer to jade, for it was as precious in Mesoamerica as it was in China. [Glenn A. Scott, Voices from the Dust, p. 51]
According to Verneil Simmons, as for the expert craft skills that were known to the artisans of Sumer, the apparent homeland of the Jaredites in the Old World, there are two special crafts related to the artifacts that are today found in Mexico. The Sumerian artists made obsidian pots that were ground down to the thinness of blown glass, which must have involved immense time and labor. One of Mexico's ancient art treasures is a black obsidian monkey pot, ground down to unbelievable thinness. In addition, conch shells from the Persian Gulf were worked into ornaments in ancient Sumer. Shells from the Caribbean Gulf made into ornaments are found in all the early cultures of Mexico. [Verneil W. Simmons, Peoples, Places and Prophecies, p. 46]
Ether 9:17 Having all manner . . . of precious things (Illustration): [The Obsidian Monkey Pot]
Ether 9:17 Having all manner . . . of precious things ([Illustration]): Pottery lasts forever, and in southern Mexico, early culture levels contain a black tripod pottery vessel with legs like full, pendant breasts very similar to that of the Yang Shao civilization in China, a territory that would have been known in the Jaredite travels. [Verneil W. Simmons, Peoples, Places and Prophecies, p. 47]