Metal Artifacts in Prehispanic Mesoamerica

Abstract

Metal artifacts are discussed as possible indicators of relationships within Mesoamerica and between Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. All known forms of Mesoamerican metal artifacts for which age and provenience data are available are included in a typological classification, presented as a basis for comparisons and distribution studies. Data on spatial and temporal distribution, with indications of centers of manufacture or use of some types, and with suggested maximum temporal range for each type, are included with the typological classification. Based on these data, a series of suggestions is presented regarding time of initial appearance of metals in various subareas of Mesoamerica, the importance of certain subareas as centers from which metals diffused, and patterns and rates of diffusion within Mesoamerica and between Mesoamerica and the American Southwest.

Los mayas de los Altos de Chiapas y sus vecinos occidentales: interacción, identidad e intercambio en una frontera cultural

“…La co lección incluye un hacha-moneda de cobre del tipo común en el período Posclá sico de Oaxaca y Guerrero (Tipo VIIIA; Pendergast, 1962), así como dos hachas de cobre en miniatura, y dos pequeñas orejeras de cobre (París, 2012;París y López Bravo, 2012). Cabe destacar que los artefactos de metal no han sido recuperados en contextos excavados en zonas residenciales periféricas en Moxviquil, ni en los otros sitios del valle (París, 2012).…”

For Whom the Bells Fall: Metals from the Cenote Sagrado, Chichén Itzá

“…2), Hosler (, fig. 1), Pendergast (, fig. 5) and Schulze (, figs 8.3 and 8.8) (referred to as ‘B’, ‘H’, ‘P’ and ‘S’) (Fig.…”

Archaeometallurgy at Lamanai, Belize: New Discoveries and Insights from the Southern Maya Lowland Area

“…Despite calls that began decades ago for more intensive study of ancient Mesoamerican metallurgy (Bray 1971(Bray , 1977Pendergast 1962), it has only been in recent years that archaeometallurgical research has been conducted in this part of the Americas in earnest. This situation, however, is beginning to change; in the last decade or so, a number of researchers have begun to address various social, economic, and technological aspects of metallurgy in ancient Mesoamerican societies.…”