Archaeometallurgy at Lamanai, Belize: New Discoveries and Insights from the Southern Maya Lowland Area

Simmons, Scott E.; Shugar, Aaron

doi:10.5876/9781607322009.c06

Cited by 11 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…But at present it is not possible to conidently diferentiate Late and Terminal Postclassic Period deposits from those dating to Spanish Colonial times on the basis of Yglesias phase ceramics alone since Yglesias vessels were produced by the Maya at Lamanai prior to as well as following Spanish contact (Graham, 2004). Copper artifacts have been recovered in association with European artifacts, including Spanish olive jar and majolica sherds as well as glass beads (Pendergast, 1985;Simmons, 2004Simmons, , 2005aSimmons, , 2005b. Yet the presence of Maya metals alongside objects of European manufacture does not necessarily indicate that copper objects were being produced at Lamanai only after Spanish contact.…”

Section: Copper At Lamanai Belize -A Summary Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of mis-cast metal objects, most of which are bells, have been recovered from Terminal Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Period deposits during MAP excavations in the Spanish church zone at Lamanai (Simmons, 2004(Simmons, , 2005a(Simmons, , 2006Simmons and Howard, 2003). Although bells were traded widely throughout Mesoamerica at the time of Spanish contact (Hosler, 1994;Smith and Berdan, 2003) mis-cast bells, fragments of other casting failures and small pieces of sheet copper are unlikely to have been trade items, thus their presence provides compelling evidence for on-site metallurgy at Lamanai.…”

Section: Copper At Lamanai In Late and Terminal Postclassic-spanish Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plain walled bells dominate the copper assemblage during this time ( Figure 3). As mentioned briely above, recent archaeological investigations at Lamanai have been conducted in the Spanish Church Zone, an area of the site where two Spanish mission churches were constructed in the 16th and 17th Centuries (Pendergast, 1981(Pendergast, , 1991(Pendergast, , 1993Simmons, 2004Simmons, , 2005aSimmons, , 2006Simmons and Howard, 2003). Located approximately 925 meters south of Structures N10-2 and N10-4, the irst of two churches was probably constructed sometime following the earliest recorded Spanish entrada (armed incursion) in AD 1544 (Pendergast, 1991).…”

Section: Copper At Lamanai In Late and Terminal Postclassic-spanish Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Maya Metallurgical Technology in Late Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Times: The View from Lamanai, Belize

Simmons¹,

Shugar²

2013

archeosciences

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Abstract:Recent archaeometallurgical studies at the ancient Maya site of Lamanai, Belize have begun to reveal the nature of copper metallurgy in the centuries just prior to and during Spanish contact in the Southern Maya Lowland Area. More copper artifacts have been recovered from controlled archaeological excavations at Lamanai than at any other site in the Southern Maya Lowland area. A total of 187 copper objects dating to the 12th through 16th centuries AD have been recovered; among these objects are ingots or pigs, blanks, prills and a substantial number of mis-cast objects, many of which are bells. he archaeological contexts in which copper bells, axes, needles, ish hooks, rings, and clothing ornaments have been recovered will be summarised. Forming technologies used in the creation of Maya copper artifacts as well as their chemical compositions were studied using scanning electron microscopy and optical light microscopy. he results of chemical compositional and microstructural analyses will be presented and discussed in the contexts of larger social and economic spheres that were part of the Maya world just before and during Spanish contact in Belize. Résumé : De récentes études concernant l'archéométallurgie sur l'ancien site maya de Lamanai, Belize ont permis de révéler la nature de la métallurgie du cuivre des siècles avant et pendant la période de contact espagnol dans la zone sud des basses terres mayas. Le nombre d'artéfacts en cuivre découverts lors de fouilles archéologiques contrôlées à Lamanai dépasse tout ce qui a été mis au jour dans les autres sites localisés dans la même région. Un total de 187 objets en cuivre datant des

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Section: Copper At Lamanai Belize -A Summary Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Copper At Lamanai In Late and Terminal Postclassic-spanish Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Copper At Lamanai In Late and Terminal Postclassic-spanish Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Maya Metallurgical Technology in Late Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Times: The View from Lamanai, Belize

Simmons¹,

Shugar²

2013

archeosciences

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“…At the core of these processes is copper smelting, an industry not attested to outside of western Mexico. Although Lamanai (Belize; Simmons and Shugar ), Mayapán (Yucatán; Meanwell et al ; Paris and Peraza Lope ), and Utatlan (highland Guatemala; Weeks , ) have evidence of Early Postclassic copper artifact production, the items made there come from recycled artifacts, not from smelting ores.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political economy in Late and Terminal Classic Southeastern Mesoamerica: Putting the El Coyote copper smelting workshop in its regional context

Urbán

2016

Economic Anthropology

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The Terminal Classic (ad 900–1050) was a time of great change in Southeastern Mesoamerica. In many zones, Late Classic large sites were abandoned at least in part, settlement patterns changed, and there were alterations in political economy. In this article, I examine one of the major changes, the development of copper smelting technology, at the site of El Coyote and place this development in the context of wider Southeastern Mesoamerica. In particular, I discuss the Middle Chamelecon–Cacaulapa area (MCC), where El Coyote is located; the Naco Valley, home to the major site of La Sierra; and the Middle Ulua–Jicatuyo drainage, where the site of Gualjoquito is found (Proyecto Santa Bárbara research zone). The three areas share some patterns but nonetheless have their own distinct trajectories of change, with El Coyote in the MCC standing out as the most unusual.

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“…Other burial positions occur in the Postclassic at Lamanai such as seated and flexed (Pendergast 1981;Simmons 2004Simmons , 2005Simmons , 2006. At Marco Gonzalez, in addition to burials face-up with legs crossed, there may be other positions represented by the disturbed burials.…”

Section: The Maya Collapsementioning

confidence: 99%

The Spanish conquest and the Maya collapse: how ‘religious’ is change?

Graham¹,

Simmons²,

White³

2013

World Archaeology

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The phenomenon of the Spanish Conquest of the Maya region suggests strongly that, in the process of socio-cultural transformation, 'religion' has no meaning as a concept with its own particular dynamic. There is no such thing as 'religious' change that is not also tied to other sorts of changes and indeed to continuity. One dramatic change was the adoption by whole communities, or large segments of communities, of Christian burial practice in which the body was placed in the supine position, head to the west, facing east. Christian burial is seen to represent 'religious conversion' but it was one of a broad sweep of changes in how power was gained and wealth appropriated, and the way in which killing was socially sanctioned through warfare. Evidence is accumulating from sites in Belize that a significant change in burial practice also took place at time of the Maya collapse in the ninth and tenth centuries. The question that remains to be answered is whether or not the new interment practices were part of a pattern which, like the burials of the Conquest period, reflected broader socio-cultural transformations.

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Archaeometallurgy at Lamanai, Belize: New Discoveries and Insights from the Southern Maya Lowland Area

Cited by 11 publications

References 11 publications

Maya Metallurgical Technology in Late Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Times: The View from Lamanai, Belize

Maya Metallurgical Technology in Late Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Times: The View from Lamanai, Belize

Political economy in Late and Terminal Classic Southeastern Mesoamerica: Putting the El Coyote copper smelting workshop in its regional context

The Spanish conquest and the Maya collapse: how ‘religious’ is change?

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