Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Copper and its alloys were the raw materials par excellence for most precolombian metallurgical industries. In ancient Mesoamerica, copper was not only the predominant metal but also the most amply used base material. When the colonizers assumed control of the local copper industry in the early sixteenth century, it is presumed that they employed native miners and smelters, who for decades carried on the metallurgical techniques that they knew. However, the metallurgists introduced several innovations through the remainder of Spanish dominion, during which time various minerals were extracted from ore. This poster session addresses the preliminary results of the Preindustrial Mining and Metallurgy in Mexico: Research on Copper Smelting in Michoacán project, which focuses on interdisciplinary research at the Postclassic and Colonial site of Jicalán Viejo. Recent and ongoing field and archival investigations and laboratory analyses have allowed us to identify patterns from temporal, spatial, structural, and functional standpoints. This symposium aims to present the above recent investigations and analyses in a public format to a wide audience and to bring together researchers with diverse interests who are contributing to the project.
Other Keywords
Material Culture and Technology •
Highland Mesoamerica: Postclassic •
Archaeometry & Materials Analysis: Metallurgical Analysis •
Historic •
Ethnohistory/History •
Remote Sensing/Geophysics •
Geoarchaeology •
Historical Archaeology •
Landscape Archaeology •
Indigenous
Geographic Keywords
United Mexican States (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
Colima (State / Territory) •
Michoacan (State / Territory) •
Jalisco (State / Territory) •
Nayarit (State / Territory) •
Aguascalientes (State / Territory) •
Guanajuato (State / Territory) •
Mesoamerica: Western •
Hidalgo (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-12 of 12)
- Documents (12)
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Acumulación de metales y procesos tecnológicos vinculados a las escorias presentes en el sitio arqueológico de Jicalán Viejo (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. El sitio arqueológico de Jicalán Viejo (posclásico tardío - colonial temprano) presenta una elevada concentración en superficie de escorias de metalurgia, relacionadas con los procesos de beneficio del cobre. El...
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Análisis morfológico y químico de escorias de cobre del sitio Jicalán Viejo, en el Occidente de México (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Este trabajo presenta los avances de la clasificación morfológica, caracterización química elemental (pXRF), y microscopía estereoscópica y óptica de las escorias de cobre recuperadas entorno a las áreas productivas...
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Archaeometallurgy and Productive Processes: Understanding Copper Smelting Production in the Prehispanic and Colonial Site of Jicalán, Michoacán, Mexico (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper focuses on the characterization of technological processes used for producing copper at the archaeological site of Jicalán Viejo, Michoacán, in Western Mexico, which includes both prehispanic and colonial...
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Damage on the Jicalán Viejo Complex by Land Use from 1970 to 2021: A Modern Mapping Assessment (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 2003, a field survey at the site of Jicalán Viejo was carried out, inspired by ethnohistorical interpretations of the Lienzo of Jicalán, also known as Lienzo de Jucutacato. One of this site’s most outstanding...
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The Effect of Prehispanic Metallurgy on the Environment of a Tropical Rain Forest in Jicalán, Michoacán, Mexico (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A core of 23 cm was recovered from a lake bed, now a dam, in Jicalán Viejo. The core was sampled for pollen analysis at every centimeter. Pollen analysis describes the presence of a tropical rain forest with tree...
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Extracting Copper from Sulphidic Ores: The Jicalán Viejo Smelting Site (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Contrary to other Mesoamerican cultural and political entities, the Purépecha Empire is renowned for its remarkable development of metallurgical production. Ongoing research at the site of Jicalán Viejo involves the...
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The Metallurgists from Jicalán in the Colonial Period: An Ethnohistorical Approach (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A thorough exploration of the available historical documents from the colonial period demonstrates that Jicalán was one of many prehispanic settlements inhabited by copper mining, smelting, and smithing specialists...
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Near-Surface Geophysics in Jicalán, Mexico (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Near-surface geophysics has been widely used as a tool to determine the distribution of objects at depth with archaeological targets. To identify more specific objects, such as ovens and associated structures, the...
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Prehispanic and Colonial Technology Transition in Metallurgy Gold Work in Oaxaca: A Comparative Study (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the northern Sierra of Oaxaca, it has been demonstrated that gold-copper-silver alloys were widely used between different prehispanic groups (Zapotecs and Chinantec). Nevertheless, with the conquest of the Sierra,...
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Spanish Empire Dynamics, Early Globalization, and Copper Production in Early Colonial Mexico (1522–1648) (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mesoamerica, they found a well-developed metallurgical tradition based on copper and copper-based alloys. With an increasing demand for copper and an almost complete lack of...
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Traces of Prehispanic Primary Smelting in Present Traditional Copper Work from Santa Clara del Cobre, Mexico: Historical and Ethnographical Evidence (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Tarascan Empire had become the most important prehispanic metallurgical center in Mesoamerica by around 1450 CE, with copper being the most commonly used metal to manufacture a variety of sumptuary objects. These...
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Una perspectiva sobre el empleo del barro cocido en el beneficio del cobre: Caso de Jicalán Viejo, Michoacán (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Jicalán Viejo, es uno de los sitios prehispánicos donde se han encontrado vestigios de escoria metálica asociada al proceso metalúrgico del cobre. Al igual que las escorias, el barro utilizado en la manufactura de...