Reflecting on Exchange: Ancient Maya Mirrors Beyond the Southeast Periphery

Dennett, Carrie; Blainey, Marc G.

doi:10.5876/9781607324089.c011

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The presence of mirrors in the Maya region has been known since the end of the nineteenth century, thanks to the iron-ore artifacts that Dieseldorff (1893( , in Blainey 2007 reported from the site of Chamá, located in the Chixoy river valley. However, the earliest known identification of their raw material (as pyrite) was made by Thompson (1897) in Yucatan, a designation that was supported by Seler (1904) and Gann (1918;Blainey 2007:99, 103).…”

Section: A History Of Reflective Materials Identification In Maya Arc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pre-Columbian reflective artifacts have been reported in almost all Mesoamerican regions, including the Olmec zone, the Maya area, Oaxaca, and the Valley of Mexico, as well as the Mexican states of Michoacan, Puebla, Chiapas, and Veracruz (Blainey 2007:42-49;Carlson 1991;Young-Sánchez 1990:328, 341). In the Mesoamerican southern periphery, mirrors have been found in northern Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and some examples have been reported further south, in Panama, Ecuador, and Peru (Blainey 2007:49-51;Dennett and Blainey 2016).…”

Section: Geographical and Chronological Patterns Of Pre-columbian May...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This increase was also marked by technological improvements, including the manufacture of "composite" mirrors, greater diversity in mirror size and shapes, and a notable preference for the use of pyrite (Gallaga M. :280, 2016a. These changes are widely attributed to the broad exchange networks associated with the economic and ideological influence of Teotihuacan (Blainey 2007:29;Gallaga M. 2016a:17;Taube 1992), meaning that the manufacture of mirrors and other reflective objects became one of the most relevant industries in Mesoamerica during the Early Classic, or at least in central Mexico and the Maya Highlands, reaching as far afield as Costa Rica (Blainey 2007:50-51;Dennett and Blainey 2016;Stone and Balser 1965:310). It has also been proposed that the mirrors found in the Maya region during the Early Classic could have been direct imports from Teotihuacan or imitations of those produced there (Gallaga M. :281, 2016aGazzola et al 2016;Mata 2003:832;Moholy-Nagy 1997:308;Pereira 2008:124-126;Taube 1992;Young-Sánchez 1990:326, 342).…”

Section: Geographical and Chronological Patterns Of Pre-columbian May...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

All that glitters is not pyrite: A geochemical assessment of iron-ore objects used by the Classic Maya

Barrientos Q.,

Sandoval,

Iizuka

et al. 2023

Ancient Mesoam

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Different types of iron ore and pyrite were used to craft a wide variety of reflective artifacts in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, including “mirrors,” pectorals, necklaces, and dental inlays, among others. In the Maya region, most of these have only been visually assessed, without using analytical techniques. Consequently, our understanding of the diversity of raw materials used in artifact production has been limited. This article presents preliminary results from a pilot study aiming to identify the raw materials used in the manufacture of different reflective objects from a small sample of finds from the sites of La Corona and Cancuen, located in Guatemala, through the use of scanning electron microscopy with EDS detectors (SEM-EDS), energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. Although further analyses are needed to confirm the representativeness of the sample, these results indicate the use of hematite and goethite (iron oxides), but not pyrite (iron sulfide). This study also shows how improved knowledge of raw material use can elicit previously unknown patterns of distribution and exchange, and highlight patterns of inter- and intrasite variability in the production, use, and exchange of reflective objects over time in the Maya region throughout the Classic period.

show abstract

Section: A History Of Reflective Materials Identification In Maya Arc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geographical and Chronological Patterns Of Pre-columbian May...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geographical and Chronological Patterns Of Pre-columbian May...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

All that glitters is not pyrite: A geochemical assessment of iron-ore objects used by the Classic Maya

Barrientos Q.,

Sandoval,

Iizuka

et al. 2023

Ancient Mesoam

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the Classic and Postclassic periods, iron-ore mirrors were traded all over the continent (Dennett and Blainey 2016), as far as the distant Hohokam societies on the Gila River in the American Southwest, and Honduras and Costa Rica in Central America. In the Late Classic and Postclassic periods, they are also found in many sites of the Pacific region of Panama (Mayo Torné 2020).…”

Section: Iron-ore Mirrors Through Time and Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: Recent research on iron-ore mirrors in Mesoamerica and Central America

Ménager,

Salgado,

Freidel

2023

Ancient Mesoam

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This Special Section focuses on recent research centered on iron-ore mirrors in Mesoamerica and Central America. Iron-ore mirrors are rare and esoteric artifacts, mainly crafted by specialized centers in the Maya, central Mexico, and Zapotec areas from the Early Preclassic to the Postclassic. They were found in numerous archaeological sites and cultures, from the Gila River in the United States to the isthmus of Panama. In this introduction, we present a temporal, geographical, and contextual framework for the actual knowledge on mirrors, in order to fully understand the complexity and importance of the research on these prestigious artifacts. Indeed, the mirrors combine spiritual and political power in a portable and material way, giving a great insight into Mesoamerican beliefs and leading to important information on the relation between rulers of different political centers from different cultural areas. Finally, we present the articles of the Special Section and give an overview of their content and relevance to the topic.

show abstract

Reflecting on Exchange: Ancient Maya Mirrors Beyond the Southeast Periphery

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

All that glitters is not pyrite: A geochemical assessment of iron-ore objects used by the Classic Maya

All that glitters is not pyrite: A geochemical assessment of iron-ore objects used by the Classic Maya

Introduction: Recent research on iron-ore mirrors in Mesoamerica and Central America

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About