Mica in Xalla: A Glittering Archaeological Indicator of Power and Specialized Production

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Palace of Xalla in Teotihuacan: A Possible Seat of Power in the Ancient Metropolis" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Mica, a shiny silicate mineral with a layered structure, was highly valued by the Teotihuacan people. Mica has unique physical properties, but we propose that the most striking one was of an optical nature, owing to the fact that it is a multicolored, specular material. The Teotihuacan elite groups emphasized this value, so they preferred micaceous species of golden tones, to handcraft production specializing in bright and luxury items. More than 90% of the mica found in the Classic city is concentrated in two compounds at Teotihuacan, to the north and the south of the Sun Pyramid: the Xalla Palace and the Viking Group. This research describes the approximately 37 kg of sheet mica found in Xalla during the Project "Teotihuacan: Elite and Government" but also the provenance and contexts in which prehispanic mica has been found, as a foreign raw material imported from the Valley of Oaxaca and Ejutla, in the cosmopolitan city in Central Mexico. This workshop under state control shows us a center of exceptional economic and religious strength.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• The Palace of Xalla in Teotihuacan: A Possible Seat of Power in the Ancient Metropolis

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32371