Mineralogical and geochemical characterization of botijas peruleras from the Fort of San Diego, Acapulco

Summary

One of the challenges in the historical archeology for the Mexican Viceregal Period, is to determinate the provenance and distribution of several goods which were recovered in archaeological excavations in the San Diego fortress, Acapulco, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. These ceramic shipping containers, generally referred in the historical sources as "botijas peruleras", were made for the transatlantic trade between the Iberian Peninsula and the New World since the sixteenth century. At the same time is possible that these botijas were manufactured in Peru, specifically in the Moquegua Valley.

The results obtained from the application of mineralogical and geochemical techniques on fragments of ceramic containers manufactured between the 16th and the 19th centuries, have lead to identify the provenance of these sherds. This helps to understand aspects related to the production of shipping containers and transatlantic commerce and the role of geopolitics in the Pacific economy.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Before the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Pacific Coast Ports in the Americas, and Beyond   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 327