The other side of the mirror. Maya Late Classic iron-ore artifact production

An insight from Cancuen

Bibliographic Data

ID17680940
AuthorsClaire Andrieu (0000-0001-5952-0332, CNRS-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, corresponding author), Naya Cadalen (Université Côte d'Azur)
Year2023
Volume35
Issue1
Pages97-114
Publication date2023-09-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAncient Mesoamerica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0956-5361 • E-ISSN: 1469-1787
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0956536121000602
OpenAlexW4386743878
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited42

Although iron-ore mirrors are commonly found in the Maya area, very few workshops are known to date. Cancuen, Guatemala, is one of the few sites to show evidence of iron-ore production during the Late Classic ( a.d. 600–800). This article reviews all the available data on this material in Cancuen in light of the recent excavations, and, by combining spatial and technological analysis, proposes to shed new light on the spatial organization of this production. By comparing the composition and the social context of production in Cancuen with that of Aguateca (Inomata and Eberl 2014), we suggest that there was a division of tasks between sites in which Cancuen's artisans were involved in the first stage of the production of luxury goods, whereas other stages, such as the arrangement of the tesserae on the supports and their repolishing, were more socially invested and made by elite artists at the recipient sites

Archaeology · Art · Economics · Elite · Excavation · Geography · Iron Age · Iron ore · Maya · Political science · Visual arts · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Computer Science · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Artificial Intelligence

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