Archaeometallurgy at Lamanai, Belize - Chapter 6 (Simmons and Shugar) (original) (raw)
Related papers
ArcheoSciences, 2013
Recent archaeometallurgical studies at the ancient Maya site of Lamanai, Belize have begun to reveal the nature of copper metallurgy in the centuries just prior to and during Spanish contact in the Southern Maya Lowland Area. More copper artifacts have been recovered from controlled archaeological excavations at Lamanai than at any other site in the Southern Maya Lowland area. A total of 187 copper objects dating to the 12th through 16th centuries AD have been recovered; among these objects are ingots or pigs, blanks, prills and a substantial number of mis-cast objects, many of which are bells. The archaeological contexts in which copper bells, axes, needles, fish hooks, rings, and clothing ornaments have been recovered will be summarised. Forming technologies used in the creation of Maya copper artifacts as well as their chemical compositions were studied using scanning electron microscopy and optical light microscopy. The results of chemical compositional and microstructural analyses will be presented and discussed in the contexts of larger social and economic spheres that were part of the Maya world just before and during Spanish contact in Belize.
ArchéoSciences, 37, 2013
Recent archaeometallurgical studies at the ancient Maya site of Lamanai, Belize have begun to reveal the nature of copper metallurgy in the centuries just prior to and during Spanish contact in the Southern Maya Lowland Area. More copper artifacts have been recovered from controlled archaeological excavations at Lamanai than at any other site in the Southern Maya Lowland area. A total of 187 copper objects dating to the 12th through 16th centuries AD have been recovered; among these objects are ingots or pigs, blanks, prills and a substantial number of mis-cast objects, many of which are bells. The archaeological contexts in which copper bells, axes, needles, fish hooks, rings, and clothing ornaments have been recovered will be summarised. Forming technologies used in the creation of Maya copper artifacts as well as their chemical compositions were studied using scanning electron microscopy and optical light microscopy. The results of chemical compositional and microstructural analyses will be presented and discussed in the contexts of larger social and economic spheres that were part of the Maya world just before and during Spanish contact in Belize.
The Context and Significance of Copper Artifacts in Postclassic and Early Historic Lamanai, Belize
Journal of Field Archaeology, 2009
l17e consider the archaeological contexts in which copper objects have been recovered at the ancient Maya site of Lamanai in northern Belize and the significance these objectshad for the residents of the community during Postclassic (ca. A.D. 950-1544) and Spanish colonial (post 1544) times. More copper objectshave been recoveredfrom controlled archaeological contexts at Lamanai than any other site in the southern Maya lowlands area. Bells make up the majority of the assemblage during the centuries just prior to and during historical times y but high status objectssuch as rings and clothing ornaments found in elite burials dominate in the Early Postclassicperiod. All of these objectswere imported from outside the Maya area. Utilitarian objectsy including needlesy axesy and fish hooksy are found in a variety of contexts during Late Postclassicand Spanish colonial timesy as are bells and rings. Production materialsy including prillsy blanksy and pigs/ingotsy in addition to mis-cast objects that are production failuresy also appear during this time. Nearly all of the copper objectsfound at Lamanai are distinctly Mesoamerican in form and designy and based on metallur;gical analyses it appears that manufacturing technologies were distinctly Mesoamerican as well. The presence ofproduction materials and mis-cast piecesy along with the results of chemical compositional and microstructural analysesy support the idea that the Maya at Lamanai were engaged in the on-site production of copper objects by late precolumbian times.
METALWORKING AT MAYAPAN, YUCATAN, MEXICO: DISCOVERIES FROM THE R-183 GROUP
This article presents a compositional analysis of metal artifacts from the Postclassic period (a.d. 1100-1450) city of Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico. We document metallurgical production at R-183, an elite residential group and one of the most significant archaeological contexts associated with metalworking at Mayapan. Salvage excavations in 1998 recovered a small cache containing 282 copper bells, two miniature ceramic vessels filled with metal, and production debris including loose casting sprues and miscast bells. Metallographic analysis of a small copper bell and wire fragments from the cache reveals lost-wax casting production techniques. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) of metal artifacts provides insight into the range of metals used by the R-183 metalworkers, which included copperlead, copper-tin, and copper-arsenic alloys, and how these alloys compare to assemblages recovered from other contexts at the city. Our findings strongly suggest the use of remelting and casting techniques, likely utilizing remelted metals of both West and central Mexican origin, together with the use of imported goods made from a range of copper alloys.
Recycling and Reconfiguring: Metalwork of Maya Communities at Lamanai and Tipu, Belize
Ancient Mesoamerica, 2017
Analysis of the two largest southern Maya lowland metal assemblages, from Lamanai (n = 187) and Tipu (n = 99), Belize reveals that Mesoamerican and European technologies were negotiated through the processes of recycling objects to create new forms and juxtaposing objects of different provenances for bodily ornamentation. Lamanai's occupants began acquiring metal as early as a.d. 1100 and then engaged in on-site metallurgy as early as a.d. 1450, continuing into the early seventeenth century. Tipu was a nexus for metals between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. At both sites, metal objects were recovered primarily from human burials and midden deposits. A program of typological study and compositional analysis revealed forms shared between the sites but evidence of on-site metallurgy is supported only at Lamanai. Metals from these Maya communities, both centers of Spanish reducción, demonstrate that the southern Maya lowlands was by no means a " refuge " from Spanish aggression.
Technical Study of a set of Metallic Artifacts from the Maya Site of Lagartero, Chiapas, Mexico
During the excavations made at a burial of the post-Classic Mayan period (1220-1521 A.D.) in the pyramid number 2 of the pre-Hispanic site of Lagartero, Chiapas, Mexico, a set of four small metallic artifacts depicting reptile’s heads, were recovered. The objects were in poor conservation conditions and were taken to the Metal Conservation Laboratory of the National School of Conservation (ENCRyM- INAH) for suitable cleaning and conservation treatments. Analyses allowed identifying important technological features such as gilding remains. The analytical techniques included optical microscopy followed by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF), and Scanning Electron Microscope-coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (MEBEDS). For the elemental depth profile a combined Particle X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (PIXE–RBS) analysis was carried out. The results indicate that the objects are made of a copper alloy, and then gilded probably using electrochemical replacement gilding (thickness has less than 1 m). This technology has been observed in other metallic objects recovered from the Chichen-Itza Cenote in Yucatan, but it was not available in Mesoamerican areas so far. So, it could imply that these artifacts might have been imported from South American areas.