CURRENCY IN OAXACA

A second and striking change that occurred during this period is relevant to our discussion of increasing commercialization during the Postclassic. Sometime around A.D. 1200-1300, metalworkers in Guerrero and Oaxaca began producing an entirely new kind of metal object. These were axe-monies, a form of currency and a medium of exchange (figure 21.7). The concept and the design were South American. There, axe-monies appear in great numbers in coastal Ecuador and northern Peru, and hundreds of years before their appearance in Mesoamerica (Hosler 1986, 1988b; Hosler et al. 1990). Unlike the object types discussed previously, Mesoamerican axe-monies do meet the criteria for standardization in materials and design (Hosler 1986; Hosler et al. 1990). We do not know where they were produced, but they are abundant in collections in Guerro and Oaxaca (Hosler 1986; Hosler et al. 1990), and they also sometimes appear in Chiapas (Hosler and Macfarlane 1996), in Morelos, and very occasionally in Michoacán, but never in significant numbers. With regard to numbers, axe-monies count as the second most abundant metal artifact class in museum collections (for example, in the National Museum of Anthropology storage facilities in Mexico City and also in the Regional Museum of Guadalajara) and probably comprise the second most abundant artifact class in the entire Late Postclassic Mesoamerican metal corpus.

These thin, T-shaped axe-monies have been divided into various types (Hosler 1986; Hosler et al. 1990). Some are paper thin and have been found stacked in packets; others are heavier, mushroom shaped, and taper to a thin, fine blade. Microstructural studies of all varities show that the paper-think type if mechanically unsuited for instrumental/tool-like applications. The microstructural evidence is equivocal as to whether the others--whose heft and thickness might allow use--had utilitarian functions. Their design and mechanical property characteristics are such that they are capable of use. Francisco López Tenorio, the regidor de Antequera (the city of Oaxaca) illustrates this heavier type (figure 21.8) and explains its value in a 1547 letter to the president of the Consejo de Indias: "Esta es la forma de moneda que se usaba en la Nueva Espana . . . vilían 4 de estas 5 realses y después siendo gastadas un poco no las querian recibir en precio alguno y venían por valer 10 por 1 real para tornarlas a refundir" [This is the kind of money used in New Spain . . . 4 of these were worth 5 reales and after they became a bit worn no one wanted them at any price and when 10 were worth 1 real, they melted them) (Medina 1912). Other sources also refer to these items (hachas or hachuelas) as a medium of exchange. The Relacíon Geográfica from Tetiquiapa, Oaxaca, reports that "no tenía minas conocidas de donde sacar el oro ni otros metales que los hachas de cobre que solían tributar hera modeda que correria y se vendía en los tianguez y mercados que se hacian en todos los puebos" [They did not have any known mines for gold or other metals . . . the copper axes they rendered as tribute were money and the axes were sold in the markets held in all the villages] (Troike n.d.).

Axe-monies have been encountered only rarely in archaeological contexts, and they often appear in packets and caches. They are found almost exclusively in the region encompassing eastern Morelos, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. The most significant quantity recovered with reasonable archaeological associations comes from the site of Paredón, located in coastal Chiapas on the border with Oaxaca. There, archaeologists have surface-collected hundreds of the paper-thin variety, some of which were eroding out of mounds. Many others have been recovered from this site by looters (Barbara Voorhies, personal communication, in 1995). The paper-thin axe-money type also appears in Guerrero. The thicker and heavier types are the most common in Oaxaca.

Axe-monies were probably manufactured in Oaxaca (and perhaps also in Guerrero, although for now the best evidence comes form Oaxaca). The incorporation of these South American items into the Mesoamerican repertoire after around A.D. 1200 and their subsequent local production mark a clear-cut shift in this region of Mesoamerica to a more formal commercialized economy.