The development of metallurgy as a craft occurred gradually over a long period. The time span between the use of metals such as silver, gold, and copper in their native state, and the process of roasting and smelting ores of these minerals was extensive. The earliest reported evidence of smelted copper in the Old World dates to the fifth or sixth millennium BC (see, e.g., Betancourt 2006). In the Pre-Columbian Americas it came much later. New World metallurgy emerged in the Andean region of South America between 1800 and 200 BC (Lechtman 1980). Metallurgical knowledge seems to have spread toward the north, as far as Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence indicates that mining practices were rudimentary, while metallurgical techniques were complex and advanced. Copper, gold, silver, and their alloys were fashioned mainly as ornaments used in religious ceremonies and for the enhancement of elite cultural status; the manufacture of metal tools and weapons was secondary and occurred relatively late.

By the time of the Spanish conquest, three main centers of metallurgical production coexisted in the New World: the Peruvian area, the Colombian-Lower Central American region, and the Tarascan-West Mexican zone (Hosler 1994; West 1994). Native American metal craftsmen from these centers rivaled their European counterparts in the sophistication of their technical skills, but the ideological and social constructs in which they worked were very different. The Spanish were caught up in the early stages of modern capitalism. Conversely, for Native Americans metals were of great value, but they were not a commodity, in the sense that they were not produced for the purpose of market trade. Gold, for some Pre-Columbian peoples, was considered the “feces of the gods” (e.g., Sahagún 1969–1982, book 11: 233), valuable to humans but, ultimately, the “waste products of greater truth and beauty” (Quilter 1998: 1058).

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINING AND METALLURGY IN MESOAMERICA

The earliest known locus of metallurgy and metalworking in Mesoamerica is western Mexico (Figure 45.1). The craft appeared suddenly in this region between 600 and 700 AD (Hosler 1994, 2009). The relatively late date of its appearance and the similarity of the techniques employed by the native metalsmiths to those developed in South America have led many scholars to suggest that metallurgy was introduced into western Mexico from Peru and Ecuador, by traders using water-craft capable of long-distance voyages along the Pacific coast of South and Central America (Edwards 1969; Meighan 1969; Montjoy 1969; Hosler 1994). Hosler (1994) and others (e.g., Arsandaux and Rivet 1921) have extensively discussed the technological relationships between western Mexican and South American metallurgies. Like the Andean region, Mesoamerican metallurgy and metalworking were based mainly on copper, often alloyed with tin, lead, silver, and gold. Although some utilitarian implements such as needles and fishhooks were made, most metal objects were considered to be sacred and were used for adornment in religious ceremonies and to enhance the social and political status of the elites (Hosler 1994; Pollard 1987). Current archaeological evidence for mining and extractive metallurgy is sparse. Nevertheless, the use of multiple lines of investigation, including ethnohistorical and geological information, may provide a basis for minimizing the data gaps in the chaîne opératoire of western Mexican metallurgy.