Tarascan Copper Metallurgy : A multiapproach perspective / Blanca Estela Maldonado.
2018
F1221.T3 M35 2018
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Title
Tarascan Copper Metallurgy : A multiapproach perspective / Blanca Estela Maldonado.
Author
Maldonado, Blanca, author.
ISBN
1784916250
9781784916251
9781784916268 (electronic book)
9781784916251
9781784916268 (electronic book)
Published
Oxford : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, [2018]
Copyright
©2018
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (155 pages) : illustrations, maps.
Call Number
F1221.T3 M35 2018
Dewey Decimal Classification
972/.370049796
Summary
In the early sixteenth century much of West Mexico was under the rule of the Purhepecha Empire, known to Europeans as the Tarascan Kingdom of Michuacan. Both archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence indicate that during the Late Postclassic Period (A.D. 1350-1525) this political unit was the primary center for metallurgy and metalworking in Mesoamerica. This technology was largely based on copper and its alloys. 'Tarascan Copper Metallurgy: A multiapproach perspective' focuses on evidence recovered from the area surrounding Santa Clara del Cobre, a Tarascan community in Central Michoacan. This pioneer research required the employment of multiple strands of evidence, including archaeological survey and excavation, ethnoarchaeology, experimental replication, and archaeometallurgy. Intensive surface survey located concentrations of manufacturing byproducts (i.e. slag) on surface that represented potential production areas. Stratigraphic excavation and subsequent archaeometallurgical analysis of physical remains were combined with ethnohistorical and ethnoarchaeological data, as well as comparative analogy, to propose a model for prehispanic copper production among the Tarascans. The goal of this analysis was to gain insights into the nature of metal production and its role in the major state apparatus. The study provides valuable insights into the development of technology and political economy in ancient Mesoamerica and offers a contribution to general anthropological theories of the emergence of social complexity.
Note
In the early sixteenth century much of West Mexico was under the rule of the Purhepecha Empire, known to Europeans as the Tarascan Kingdom of Michuacan. Both archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence indicate that during the Late Postclassic Period (A.D. 1350-1525) this political unit was the primary center for metallurgy and metalworking in Mesoamerica. This technology was largely based on copper and its alloys. 'Tarascan Copper Metallurgy: A multiapproach perspective' focuses on evidence recovered from the area surrounding Santa Clara del Cobre, a Tarascan community in Central Michoacan. This pioneer research required the employment of multiple strands of evidence, including archaeological survey and excavation, ethnoarchaeology, experimental replication, and archaeometallurgy. Intensive surface survey located concentrations of manufacturing byproducts (i.e. slag) on surface that represented potential production areas. Stratigraphic excavation and subsequent archaeometallurgical analysis of physical remains were combined with ethnohistorical and ethnoarchaeological data, as well as comparative analogy, to propose a model for prehispanic copper production among the Tarascans. The goal of this analysis was to gain insights into the nature of metal production and its role in the major state apparatus. The study provides valuable insights into the development of technology and political economy in ancient Mesoamerica and offers a contribution to general anthropological theories of the emergence of social complexity.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references.
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Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Series
Archaeopress Pre-Columbian archaeology ; 10.
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Tarascan Copper Metallurgy : A multiapproach perspective.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Approaches to the study of technology and craft production
Synopsis of preindustrial metallurgy as applied to Mesoamerica
Tarascan copper smelting at the zone of Itzipart̀zico : a case study
Methods of technological organization
Conclusions, remarks, and suggestions for future research.
Approaches to the study of technology and craft production
Synopsis of preindustrial metallurgy as applied to Mesoamerica
Tarascan copper smelting at the zone of Itzipart̀zico : a case study
Methods of technological organization
Conclusions, remarks, and suggestions for future research.