Here comes the hammer: sheet objects from the Cenote Sagrado, Chichén Itzá
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Published
Sep 15, 2021
Abstract
A multi-stage archaeometric analysis was undertaken of 22 hammered metals recovered from the Cenote Sagrado at Chichén Itzá, Mexico. These objects include sandals, axe-monies and tweezers. All metals were examined with optical microscopy (vis-UV-IR) for comprehensive documentation and with pXRF for determination of bulk composition. Finer resolution analyses, including RBS, SR-XRD and SR-XRF, were conducted on particular objects. Eighteen objects are Cu-Au-based, while the axe-monies and tweezers are Cu-based. At least two sandals were finished with electrochemical replacement gilding. Secondary alterations to the metals, from indentations to wrinkles, suggest that the objects were re-fabricated over time. The presence of particular compositions and fabrication techniques indicates that objects continued to be deposited in the Cenote several centuries after the main occupation of Chichén Itzá (AD 750-1050).
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Keywords
References
ASM International Handbook Committee 1990, Properties and selection: Nonferrous alloys and special purpose materials, ASM Handbook, Vol 2 (Materials Park, OH).
Ball J W and Ladd J M 1992, ‘Ceramics’, in C C Coggins (ed), Artifacts from the Cenote of Sacrifice, Chichen Itza, Yucatan (Cambridge, MA), 191-233.
Bray W 1974, El Dorado: The gold of ancient Colombia (New York).
Bray W 1977, ‘Maya metalwork and its external connections’, in N Hammond (ed), Social process in Maya prehistory: Studies in honour of Sir Eric Thompson (London), 365-403.
Breglia L 2005, ‘Keeping world heritage in the family: A genealogy of Maya labour at Chichen Itza’, International Journal of Heritage Studies 11, 385-398.
Camacho-Bragado G A, Ortega-Aviles M, Velasco M A and José-Yacaman M 2005, ‘A microstructural study of gold treasure from Monte Alban’s Tomb 7’, Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society 57, 19-24.
Cirerol Sansores M 1940, Descubrimiento de joyas y objetos arqueológicos de los Mayas, en la orilla del ‘Cenote Sagrado’ de Chichén-Itzá, Informe del Estado de Yucatán 1115-1. Unpublished but submitted to the Mexican government.
Cobos R 1998, ‘Chichen Itza y el Clásico Terminal en las Tierras Bajas Mayas’, in J P Laporte and H Escobedo (eds), XI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1997 (Guatemala), 915-930.
Cobos R 2010, ‘Más allá del centro de Yucatán: Reconstruyendo el dominio territorial de Chichén Itzá en las Tierras Bajas Maya del Norte’, in E Ortiz Díaz (ed), VI Coloquio Pedro Bosch Gimpera: Lugar, Espacio y Paisaje en Arqueología: Mesoamérica y Otras Áreas Culturales (Mexico City), 333-348.
Cockrell B, Ruvalcaba Sil J L and Ortiz Díaz E 2015, ‘For whom the bells fall: Metals from the Cenote Sagrado, Chichén Itzá’, Archaeometry 57(6), 977-995.
Coggins C C and Shane III O C (eds) 1984, Cenote of Sacrifice: Maya treasures from the sacred well at Chichén Itzá (Austin, TX).
Contreras J, Ruvalcaba Sil J L and Arenas Alatorre J 2007, ‘Nondestructive study of gilded copper artifacts from the Chichén-Itzá cenote’, in J Miranda (ed), Proceedings of Particle Induced X-ray Emission and its Analytical Applications, PIXE 2007 (Puebla), PI-48, 1-4.
Cooke R, Sánchez Herrera L A and Udagawa K 2000, ‘Contextualized goldwork from ‘Gran Coclé’, Panama’, in C McEwan (ed), Precolumbian gold: Technology, style and iconography (London), 154-176.
Cooke R, Isaza I, Griggs, J, Desjardins B and Sánchez L A 2003, ‘Who crafted, exchanged, and displayed gold in Pre-Columbian Panama?’, in J Quilter and J W Hoopes (eds), Gold and power in ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia (Washington, DC), 91-158.
Craddock P T 1995, Early metal mining and production (Washington, DC).
Davis J R 2001, ASM specialty handbook: copper and copper alloys (Materials Park, OH).
Díaz del Castillo B 1955, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (Buenos Aires).
Fernández P 2010, ‘Metalurgia de Costa Rica: Producción local e identificación de relaciones sociales entre Panamá, Costa Rica y Nicaragua’, Society for American Archaeology (St Louis, MO).
Fernández P and Segura Garita J 2004, ‘La Metalurgia del Sureste de Costa Rica: Identificación de producciones locales basadas en evidencia tecnológica y estilística’, in A Perea, I Montero and Ó García-Vuelta (eds), Tecnología del oro antiguo: Europa y América (Madrid),
49-61.
Fleming S 1992, ‘Sitio Conte goldworking techniques: Hammering and casting’, in P Hearne and R J Sharer (eds), River of gold: Precolumbian treasures from the Sitio Conte (Philadelphia, PA), 48-53.
Franco Velázquez F and de Grinberg D M K 2002, ‘Cascabeles especiales procedentes del Cenote Sagrado de Chichén-Itzá, Yucatán’, in M I R Vázquez Balderas (ed), Memorias: Mesa redonda: Tecnologías metalúrgicas en América prehispánica (Mexico City), 17-32.
González A R 1979, ‘Pre-Columbian metallurgy of northwest Argentina’, in E P Benson (ed), Pre-Columbian metallurgy of South America (Washington, DC), 133-202.
Harrison A, Cullen Cobb K, Beaubien H F, Jett P and Mayo J 2012, ‘A study of pre-Columbian gold beads from Panama’, in N Meeks, C Cartwright, A Meek and A Mongiatti (eds), Historical technology, materials and conservation: SEM and microanalysis (London), 49-55.
Hosler D 1988, ‘Ancient West Mexican metallurgy: A technological chronology’, Journal of Field Archaeology 15, 191-217.
Hosler D 1994, The sounds and colors of power (Cambridge, MA). Hosler D 2009, ‘West Mexican metallurgy: Revisited and revised’, Journal of World Prehistory 22, 185-212.
Hosler D, Lechtman H and Holm O 1990, Axe-monies and their relatives (Washington, DC).
Lave J and Wenger E 1991, Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation (New York).
Lechtman H 1984, ‘Andean value systems and the development of prehistoric metallurgy’, Technology and Culture 25, 1-36.
Lechtman, H 2007, ‘The Inka, and Andean metallurgical tradition’, in R L Burger, C Morris and R Matos Mendieta (eds), Variations in the expression of Inka power (Washington, DC), 313-55.
Lechtman H, Erlij A and Barry Jr. E J 1982, ‘New perspectives on Moche metallurgy: Techniques of gilding copper at Loma Negra, Northern Peru’, American Antiquity 47, 3-30.
Lothrop S K 1915-1962, Untitled [and unpublished reports] in Samuel K Lothrop Papers 996-20: Box 3, Folder 10 (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA).
Lothrop S K 1937, Coclé: An Archaeological Study of Central Panama; Part I: Historical background, excavations at the Sitio Conte, artifacts and ornaments (Cambridge, MA).
Lothrop S K 1952, Metals from the Cenote of Sacrifice, Chichen Itza, Yucatan (Cambridge, MA).
Martinón-Torres M, Valcárcel Rojas R, Cooper J and Rehren T 2007, ‘Metals, microanalysis and meaning: a study of metal objects excavated from the indigenous cemetery of El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba’, Journal of Archaeological Science 34(2), 194-204.
Ortiz Díaz E, Cockrell B and Ruvalcaba Sil J L 2016 ‘Las distintas tradiciones metalúrgicas presentes en las ofrendas del Cenote Sagrado de Chichén Itzá’, Arqueología Mexicana 23(138), 72-74.
Pendergast D M 1962, ‘Metal artifacts in Prehispanic Mesoamerica’, American Antiquity 27, 520-545.
Peñuelas G, Jimenez I, Tapia P, Ruvalcaba-Sil J L, Arenas J, Lemoine A, Contreras J, Ruiz Portilla P, Rivero Torres S, 2012, ‘Technical study of a set of metallic artifacts from the Maya site of Lagartero, Chiapas, Mexico’, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings 1374, 125-136.
Piña Chán R 1970, Informe preliminar de la reciente exploración del Cenote Sagrado de Chichén Itzá (Mexico City).
Root W C 1937, 1946-7, Untitled [and unpublished reports] in William Campbell Root Papers 1932, 1969, 969-42: Box 1, Folders 12 and 13; Box 4a (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA).
Ruvalcaba J L, Ramirez D, Aguilar V, Picazo F, 2010, ‘SANDRA: A portable XRF system for the study of Mexican cultural heritage’, X-ray Spectrometry 39, 338-345.
Schorsch D, Howe E G and Wypyski M T 1996, ‘Silvered and gilded copper metalwork from Loma Negra’, Boletín del Museo del Oro 41, 145-163.
Schulze N 2013, ‘How “real” does it get? Portable XRF analysis of thin-walled copper bells from the Aztec Templo Mayor, Tenochtitlán, Mexico’, in A N Shugar and S E Simmons (eds), Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current approaches and new perspectives (Boulder, CO), 203-226.
Scott D A 1983, ‘The deterioration of gold alloys and some aspects of their conservation’, Studies in Conservation 28, 194-203.
Scott D A 2011, ‘The La Tolita-Tumaco culture: Master metalsmiths in gold and platinum’, Latin American Antiquity 22, 65-95.
Shackley M S 2011, ‘An introduction to X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis in archaeology’, in M S Shackley (ed), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) in geoarchaeology (New York), 7-44.
Shugar A N 2013, ‘Portable X-ray fluorescence and archaeology: Limitations of the instrument and suggested methods to achieve desired results’, in R A Armitage and J H Burton (eds), Archaeological chemistry 8 (Washington, DC), 173-193.
Stone D and Balser C 1958, The aboriginal metalwork in the Isthmian region of America (San José, CA).
Tozzer A M 1957, Chichen Itza and its Cenote of Sacrifice: A comparative study of contemporaneous Maya and Toltec (Cambridge MA).
Uribe Villegas M A and Martinón-Torres M 2012, ‘Composition, colour and context in Muisca votive metalwork (Colombia, AD 600-1800)’, Antiquity 86, 772-791.
Ball J W and Ladd J M 1992, ‘Ceramics’, in C C Coggins (ed), Artifacts from the Cenote of Sacrifice, Chichen Itza, Yucatan (Cambridge, MA), 191-233.
Bray W 1974, El Dorado: The gold of ancient Colombia (New York).
Bray W 1977, ‘Maya metalwork and its external connections’, in N Hammond (ed), Social process in Maya prehistory: Studies in honour of Sir Eric Thompson (London), 365-403.
Breglia L 2005, ‘Keeping world heritage in the family: A genealogy of Maya labour at Chichen Itza’, International Journal of Heritage Studies 11, 385-398.
Camacho-Bragado G A, Ortega-Aviles M, Velasco M A and José-Yacaman M 2005, ‘A microstructural study of gold treasure from Monte Alban’s Tomb 7’, Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society 57, 19-24.
Cirerol Sansores M 1940, Descubrimiento de joyas y objetos arqueológicos de los Mayas, en la orilla del ‘Cenote Sagrado’ de Chichén-Itzá, Informe del Estado de Yucatán 1115-1. Unpublished but submitted to the Mexican government.
Cobos R 1998, ‘Chichen Itza y el Clásico Terminal en las Tierras Bajas Mayas’, in J P Laporte and H Escobedo (eds), XI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1997 (Guatemala), 915-930.
Cobos R 2010, ‘Más allá del centro de Yucatán: Reconstruyendo el dominio territorial de Chichén Itzá en las Tierras Bajas Maya del Norte’, in E Ortiz Díaz (ed), VI Coloquio Pedro Bosch Gimpera: Lugar, Espacio y Paisaje en Arqueología: Mesoamérica y Otras Áreas Culturales (Mexico City), 333-348.
Cockrell B, Ruvalcaba Sil J L and Ortiz Díaz E 2015, ‘For whom the bells fall: Metals from the Cenote Sagrado, Chichén Itzá’, Archaeometry 57(6), 977-995.
Coggins C C and Shane III O C (eds) 1984, Cenote of Sacrifice: Maya treasures from the sacred well at Chichén Itzá (Austin, TX).
Contreras J, Ruvalcaba Sil J L and Arenas Alatorre J 2007, ‘Nondestructive study of gilded copper artifacts from the Chichén-Itzá cenote’, in J Miranda (ed), Proceedings of Particle Induced X-ray Emission and its Analytical Applications, PIXE 2007 (Puebla), PI-48, 1-4.
Cooke R, Sánchez Herrera L A and Udagawa K 2000, ‘Contextualized goldwork from ‘Gran Coclé’, Panama’, in C McEwan (ed), Precolumbian gold: Technology, style and iconography (London), 154-176.
Cooke R, Isaza I, Griggs, J, Desjardins B and Sánchez L A 2003, ‘Who crafted, exchanged, and displayed gold in Pre-Columbian Panama?’, in J Quilter and J W Hoopes (eds), Gold and power in ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia (Washington, DC), 91-158.
Craddock P T 1995, Early metal mining and production (Washington, DC).
Davis J R 2001, ASM specialty handbook: copper and copper alloys (Materials Park, OH).
Díaz del Castillo B 1955, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (Buenos Aires).
Fernández P 2010, ‘Metalurgia de Costa Rica: Producción local e identificación de relaciones sociales entre Panamá, Costa Rica y Nicaragua’, Society for American Archaeology (St Louis, MO).
Fernández P and Segura Garita J 2004, ‘La Metalurgia del Sureste de Costa Rica: Identificación de producciones locales basadas en evidencia tecnológica y estilística’, in A Perea, I Montero and Ó García-Vuelta (eds), Tecnología del oro antiguo: Europa y América (Madrid),
49-61.
Fleming S 1992, ‘Sitio Conte goldworking techniques: Hammering and casting’, in P Hearne and R J Sharer (eds), River of gold: Precolumbian treasures from the Sitio Conte (Philadelphia, PA), 48-53.
Franco Velázquez F and de Grinberg D M K 2002, ‘Cascabeles especiales procedentes del Cenote Sagrado de Chichén-Itzá, Yucatán’, in M I R Vázquez Balderas (ed), Memorias: Mesa redonda: Tecnologías metalúrgicas en América prehispánica (Mexico City), 17-32.
González A R 1979, ‘Pre-Columbian metallurgy of northwest Argentina’, in E P Benson (ed), Pre-Columbian metallurgy of South America (Washington, DC), 133-202.
Harrison A, Cullen Cobb K, Beaubien H F, Jett P and Mayo J 2012, ‘A study of pre-Columbian gold beads from Panama’, in N Meeks, C Cartwright, A Meek and A Mongiatti (eds), Historical technology, materials and conservation: SEM and microanalysis (London), 49-55.
Hosler D 1988, ‘Ancient West Mexican metallurgy: A technological chronology’, Journal of Field Archaeology 15, 191-217.
Hosler D 1994, The sounds and colors of power (Cambridge, MA). Hosler D 2009, ‘West Mexican metallurgy: Revisited and revised’, Journal of World Prehistory 22, 185-212.
Hosler D, Lechtman H and Holm O 1990, Axe-monies and their relatives (Washington, DC).
Lave J and Wenger E 1991, Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation (New York).
Lechtman H 1984, ‘Andean value systems and the development of prehistoric metallurgy’, Technology and Culture 25, 1-36.
Lechtman, H 2007, ‘The Inka, and Andean metallurgical tradition’, in R L Burger, C Morris and R Matos Mendieta (eds), Variations in the expression of Inka power (Washington, DC), 313-55.
Lechtman H, Erlij A and Barry Jr. E J 1982, ‘New perspectives on Moche metallurgy: Techniques of gilding copper at Loma Negra, Northern Peru’, American Antiquity 47, 3-30.
Lothrop S K 1915-1962, Untitled [and unpublished reports] in Samuel K Lothrop Papers 996-20: Box 3, Folder 10 (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA).
Lothrop S K 1937, Coclé: An Archaeological Study of Central Panama; Part I: Historical background, excavations at the Sitio Conte, artifacts and ornaments (Cambridge, MA).
Lothrop S K 1952, Metals from the Cenote of Sacrifice, Chichen Itza, Yucatan (Cambridge, MA).
Martinón-Torres M, Valcárcel Rojas R, Cooper J and Rehren T 2007, ‘Metals, microanalysis and meaning: a study of metal objects excavated from the indigenous cemetery of El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba’, Journal of Archaeological Science 34(2), 194-204.
Ortiz Díaz E, Cockrell B and Ruvalcaba Sil J L 2016 ‘Las distintas tradiciones metalúrgicas presentes en las ofrendas del Cenote Sagrado de Chichén Itzá’, Arqueología Mexicana 23(138), 72-74.
Pendergast D M 1962, ‘Metal artifacts in Prehispanic Mesoamerica’, American Antiquity 27, 520-545.
Peñuelas G, Jimenez I, Tapia P, Ruvalcaba-Sil J L, Arenas J, Lemoine A, Contreras J, Ruiz Portilla P, Rivero Torres S, 2012, ‘Technical study of a set of metallic artifacts from the Maya site of Lagartero, Chiapas, Mexico’, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings 1374, 125-136.
Piña Chán R 1970, Informe preliminar de la reciente exploración del Cenote Sagrado de Chichén Itzá (Mexico City).
Root W C 1937, 1946-7, Untitled [and unpublished reports] in William Campbell Root Papers 1932, 1969, 969-42: Box 1, Folders 12 and 13; Box 4a (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA).
Ruvalcaba J L, Ramirez D, Aguilar V, Picazo F, 2010, ‘SANDRA: A portable XRF system for the study of Mexican cultural heritage’, X-ray Spectrometry 39, 338-345.
Schorsch D, Howe E G and Wypyski M T 1996, ‘Silvered and gilded copper metalwork from Loma Negra’, Boletín del Museo del Oro 41, 145-163.
Schulze N 2013, ‘How “real” does it get? Portable XRF analysis of thin-walled copper bells from the Aztec Templo Mayor, Tenochtitlán, Mexico’, in A N Shugar and S E Simmons (eds), Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current approaches and new perspectives (Boulder, CO), 203-226.
Scott D A 1983, ‘The deterioration of gold alloys and some aspects of their conservation’, Studies in Conservation 28, 194-203.
Scott D A 2011, ‘The La Tolita-Tumaco culture: Master metalsmiths in gold and platinum’, Latin American Antiquity 22, 65-95.
Shackley M S 2011, ‘An introduction to X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis in archaeology’, in M S Shackley (ed), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) in geoarchaeology (New York), 7-44.
Shugar A N 2013, ‘Portable X-ray fluorescence and archaeology: Limitations of the instrument and suggested methods to achieve desired results’, in R A Armitage and J H Burton (eds), Archaeological chemistry 8 (Washington, DC), 173-193.
Stone D and Balser C 1958, The aboriginal metalwork in the Isthmian region of America (San José, CA).
Tozzer A M 1957, Chichen Itza and its Cenote of Sacrifice: A comparative study of contemporaneous Maya and Toltec (Cambridge MA).
Uribe Villegas M A and Martinón-Torres M 2012, ‘Composition, colour and context in Muisca votive metalwork (Colombia, AD 600-1800)’, Antiquity 86, 772-791.
How to Cite
Sil, J., Cockrell, B., & Díaz, E. (2021). Here comes the hammer: sheet objects from the Cenote Sagrado, Chichén Itzá. Historical Metallurgy, 50(1), 11-27. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/59
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Sil, J., Cockrell, B., & Díaz, E. (2021). Here comes the hammer: sheet objects from the Cenote Sagrado, Chichén Itzá. Historical Metallurgy, 50(1), 11-27. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/59