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Mesoamerican Metallurgy: the Perspective from the West

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Book cover Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective

Abstract

In Mesoamerica metallurgy developed relatively late, after state level societies had merged in several regions. Our data indicate that metallurgy was introduced from the south, along the Pacific coast, from Northern South America and also from Colombia and Lower Center America. The first evidence comes from western Mexico a region rich in ore mineral resources. That evidence dates to about 700C.E. Within a few hundred years, metalworkers in the region were using bronze, (copper-arsenic, and copper-tin) and copper-silver metal sheet. Mesoamerica constitutes an unambiguous case of technology transfer, and the most interesting aspect of this situation is what Mesoamerican peoples did with metal—a totally new material during the 900 year period before the Spanish invasion. They were interested in those properties—sound, color and reflectivity—unique to it. The object they made, display items, sheet metal beastplates, crowns and objects that sounded, bells, made these choices clear. Other technical option were available, especially given their use of and facility with bronze, (copper-tin and copper-arsenic) so that the Mesoamerican case provides a clear example of the ways in which social exigencies can shape and determine technological outcomes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There has been some ethnographic work documenting trance states brought on by the repetitive sounds of rattles and bells.

  2. 2.

    Garcia (2007) dates a copper–arsenic alloy bell to 1040 C.E. from Caseta where the numerous copper–tin and copper–arsenic bronze artifacts recovered fall between 1040 and 1300 C.E., making dates for the copper–tin and copper–arsenic alloys earlier than the (very general) 1200–1300 C.E. dates available previously (see Hosler 1994). Some Milpillas bronze artifacts dated lightly earlier than 1200 C.E., which is why Garcia’s findings make the earliest dates about 100 years earlier than previously estimated.

  3. 3.

    I was able to read the abstract of Dr. Maldonado’s thesis (2006) but did not have access to the text at the time of the writing of this paper.

  4. 4.

    See footnote 3.

  5. 5.

    Agua Fria was identified in a document referring to eighteenth century and subsequent mining activities, and thus was exploited after the conquest and from the pottery and prehispanic house mounds and house foundations likely before (Personal communication, RocuiColegio Mexiquense 2006).

  6. 6.

    Cantares Mexicanos was composed in Nahuatl between 1550 and 1580 C.E. and deals with the conquest and its aftermath.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Dorothy Hosler

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  1. Dorothy Hosler
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Correspondence to Dorothy Hosler .

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  1. Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom

    Benjamin W. Roberts

  2. Asian Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Christopher P. Thornton

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Hosler, D. (2014). Mesoamerican Metallurgy: the Perspective from the West. In: Roberts, B., Thornton, C. (eds) Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9017-3_14

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