Pre-Hispanic and Colonial Metallurgy in Jicalán, Michoacán, México: An Archaeological Survey

Final Comments

Though the findings discussed here are preliminary, we would like to present certain brief reflections based on our comparison of the Lienzo de Jicalán with the data obtained from our survey of the archaeological site. In addition to emphasizing Jicalán el Viejo’s importance as a center of metallurgy, both sources seem to agree that no copper deposits existed in the immediate area. Therefore, minerals were probably transported from the southern area of the Hotlands, though this would contradict, or at least, oblige us to reformulate, the widely-held view that smelting centers and similar production units were always located close to mines. In the case of Jicalán, other factors may have outweighed the criteria of the proximity of raw materials: it was a well-ventilated, sheltered place located in a frontier area near large urban centers and markets, with excellent fuels that permitted the development of high-quality smelting operations.

Our first approach to the archaeological zone of Jicalán has also served to revive an old debate on the origin and development of systems of communications and pictographic writing in Michoacán. So far, we have found only one series of petroglyphs at this site, and they show a relatively simple iconographic form, as most pieces belong to the maquette style. The ceramic material recovered seems designed exclusively for domestic use and shows no drawing or painting. There is no archaeological evidence to support the presence of the conventions of pictographic writing found in the Lienzo de Jicalán and other Colonial-era documents.

To this point, then, we have been able to establish that this smelting site was inhabited from at least the Late Post Classic period through most of the 16^th century. Though the Lienzo contains no concrete dates, its portrayal of the occupation of Jicalán seems to refer to the same period. The document explicitly mentions the Tarascan expansion that took place in the second half of the 15^th century and the founding of the Colonial town after the Spanish conquest. However, as the origins, migration and founding of this settlement occurred in a remote sacred past that goes back to the "beginning of time", it will be difficult to compare this aspect of the document with archaeological materials, because the latter normally provide distinct types of data. Still, it is important to attempt such comparisons because simply classifying "sacred histories" as myths or real events (depending on one’s point of view) is clearly unsatisfactory.

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