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MEXICAN COPPER TOOLS:
THE USE OF COPPER BY THE MEXICANS BEFORE THE CONQUEST;
AND
THE KATUNES OF MAYA HISTORY,
A CHAPTER IN THE
EARLY HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA,
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PIO PEREZ MANUSCRIPT.
BY
PHILIPP J. J. VALENTINI, PH.D.
[TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, BY STEPHEN SALISBURY, JR.]
WORCESTER, MASS.:
PRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON.
1880.
[PROCEEDINGS OF AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, APRIL 29, AND OCTOBER 21,
1879.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
MEXICAN COPPER TOOLS 5
THE KATUNES OF MAYA HISTORY 45
NOTE BY COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION 47
_Introductory Remarks_ 49
_The Maya Manuscript and Translation_ 52
_History of the Manuscript_ 55
_Elements of Maya Chronology_ 60
_Table of the 20 Days of the Maya Month_ 62
_Table of the 18 Months of the Maya Year_ 63
_Table of Maya Months and Days_ 64
_Translation of the Manuscript by Señor Perez_ 75
_Discussion of the Manuscript_ 77
_Concluding Remarks_ 92
_Sections of the Perez Manuscript Expressed in Years_ 96
_Table of Maya Ahaues Expressed in Years_ 100
_Results of the Chronological Investigation_ 102
Illustrations.
PAGE.
COPPER AXES IN THE ARMS OF TEPOZTLA, TEPOZTITLA AND 12
TEPOZCOLULA
COPPER AXES, THE TRIBUTE OF CHILAPA 13
COPPER AXES AND BELLS, THE TRIBUTE OF CHALA 14
MEXICAN GOLDSMITH SMELTING GOLD 18
YUCATAN COPPER AXES 30
COPPER CHISEL FOUND IN OAXACA 33
MEXICAN CARPENTER’S HATCHET 35
COPPER AXE OF TEPOZCOLULA 36
COPPER AXE OF TLAXIMALOYAN 36
COPPER TOOL, FOUND BY DUPAIX IN OAXACA 37
MAYA AHAU KATUN WHEEL 72
MAP SHOWING THE MOVEMENT OF THE MAYAS, AS STATED IN THE 78
MANUSCRIPT
FOOTNOTE
YUCATAN AXE, FROM LANDA 17
INDIAN BATTLE AXE, FROM OVIEDO 19
MEXICAN COPPER TOOLS.
BY PHILIPP J. J. VALENTINI, PH.D.
[_From the German, by Stephen Salisbury, Jr_.]
[From Proceedings of American Antiquarian Society, April 30, 1879.]
The subject of prehistoric copper mining, together with the trade in the
metal and the process of its manufacture into implements and tools by
the red men of North America, has engaged the attention of numerous
investigators.
It was while listening to an interesting paper on prehistoric copper
mining at Lake Superior, read by Prof. Thomas Egleston before the
Academy of Sciences, of New York, March 9, 1879, that the writer was
reminded of a number of notes which he had made, some time previous, on
the same subject. These notes, however, covered a department of research
not included in the lecture of that evening. They were collected in
order to secure all the material extant in relation to the copper
products of Mexico and Central America. Nevertheless, this treatment of
a subject so germain to ours, could not help imparting an impulse to a
rapid comparison of the results of our own studies with those of others.
It brought to light striking agreements, as well as disagreements, which
existed in connection with the copper industries of the two widely
separated races. On the one hand it appeared that both of these ancient
people were unacquainted with iron; both were trained to the practise of
war, and, strange to say, both had invariably abstained from shaping
copper into any implement of war, the metal being appropriated solely to
the uses of peace.
But, on the other hand, whilst the northern red man attained to his
highest achievement in the production of the axe, the native of Central
America could boast of important additions to his stock of tools. He
possessed copper implements for tilling the fields, and knew the uses of
the chisel. Besides, when he wished to impart to the copper a definite
form, he showed a superior ingenuity. The northern Indian simply took a
stone, and by physical force hammered the metal into the required shape.
But the skilled workman of Tecoatega and Tezcuco, subjecting the native
copper to the heat of the furnace, cast the woodcutter’s axe in a mould,
as well as the bracelets and the fragile earrings that adorned the
princesses of Motezuma.
Therefore, in view of the recently increasing interest shown in
archæological circles, respecting everything relating to Mexico, the
writer deemed it worth while to revise the notes referred to.
As to the fact that the early Mexicans used instruments of copper, there
can be no doubt. The brevity of the statements respecting these
instruments is nevertheless very perplexing. The accounts of the Spanish
chroniclers, indeed, afford a certain degree of satisfaction, but they
leave us with a desire for fuller information. We should have felt more
grateful to these authorities if, out of the thousand and more chapters
devoted to the glorious deeds of the “Castellanos and Predicadores,”
they had written one in which they had introduced us to the Mexican
work-shop, exhibiting the weaver, the paper-maker, the carpenter, the
goldsmith, and the sculptor, and initiating us into the devices and
methods respectively employed; describing the form and shape of the
tools they used, and giving an account of all those little details which
are indispensable for achieving any technical or artistical results.
Yet, as it exists, the desired information is incomplete, and, for the
present at least, we can only deplore its brevity. In looking for aid
from other quarters we feel still more perplexed. No specimen of any
copper or bronze tool, apparently, has been preserved, and we are thus
prevented from determining whether the axes or chisels mentioned by the
Spanish authors were of the same shape as ours, or whether the natives
had contrived to give them a peculiar shape of their own. Finally, no
definite hint is given whether the kind of copper metal, which they
called “brass or bronze,” was copper with the natural admixtures of
gold, silver, tin, or other tempering elements, or whether the Mexicans
had themselves discovered the devices of hardening, and combined the
elements in due conventional proportions.
All these questions are of the highest interest, and claim an answer.
Our most renowned authorities for Mexican archæology and history,
Humboldt, Prescott and Brasseur de Bourbourg,[1] pass over this subject
without giving any desired satisfaction. They do not go much farther
than to repeat the statements furnished by the writers in the same
language as they received them.
These early statements will form the principal portion of the material
out of which we weave the text of our discussion. In order that the
reader may be better prepared to enter into our reasoning and judge of
the correctness of our conclusions, we shall, in translation, place the
statements of these authors below the text, in the form of foot-notes;
though, in cases where it is believed that the reader may desire to see
the originals, the Spanish text is given. Considerable help has been
derived from a source hitherto very little consulted, that of the native
paintings, which represent copper implements. As will be seen, they make
up, to a certain extent, for the deficiency of the latter in
collections. The cuts we give are of the same size as those we find
copied in the Kingsborough Collection.
We shall speak first of those localities whence the natives procured
their copper and their tin; secondly, of the manner in which they used
to melt metals; thirdly, consider whether the metal was moulded or
hammered; and fourthly, discuss the various forms into which their tools
appear to have been shaped.
That the natives of the New World collected and worked other metals
besides gold and silver, seems to have become known to the Spaniards
only after their entrance into the city of Mexico, A.D. 1521. During the
first epoch, in which the West India Islands and the Atlantic coasts of
South and Central America were explored and conquered, no specimen of
utensils, tools or weapons, made of brass or copper, was discovered to
be in the possession of the inhabitants. So also in Yucatan, Tlascalla,
and on the high plateau of Anahuac, where mechanics and industry were
found to have a home, and where the native warrior exhibited his person
in the most gorgeous military attire, their swords, javelins, lances and
arrows, showed that concerning the manufacture of arms they had, so to
speak, not yet emerged from the Stone-Age. And finally, when brass,
copper, tin, and even lead, were seen exposed for sale in the stalls of
the market-place of Mexico, it was noticed to the great astonishment of
the conquerors, that these metals had exclusively served the natives for
the manufacture of mere instruments of peace.
The Spanish leader communicates these facts to his emperor in these few
words:[2]—“Besides all kind of merchandise, I have seen for sale
trinkets made of gold and silver, of lead, bronze, copper and tin.”
Almost the same expressions are used in the memoirs of his companion,
Bernal Diaz de Castillo:[3]—“And I saw _axes_ of _bronze_, and _copper_,
and _tin_.” Under the influences of such a revelation the hearts of the
distressed Spaniards must have been elated with joy and courage, when
they saw not only a prospect of replacing the arms which their small
band had lost, but also the source from which to equip the faithful
Indian allies of Tlascala in an efficient manner. Immediately after
having taken firm foothold on the conquered ground, Cortes ordered the
goldsmiths of Tezcuco to cast eight thousand arrow-heads of copper, and
these weapons were made ready for delivery within a single week.[4] At
the same time, too, the hope to have a supply of cannon made was
presented to the conqueror’s mind. The only question was from whence to
procure a sufficient quantity of the material necessary to carry out
this design.
Copper is found to-day in nearly all the states of the Mexican Republic.
We abstain, therefore, from quoting the localities. But as far as our
information goes, no writer or historian has stated where Cortes and
before him the natives themselves found it. To investigate this matter
might be of direct utility, at least. We intend to use a source hitherto
little explored, but which for the history of Mexico is of greatest
importance, the picture tables, called the Codices Mexicana. These
collections contain representations of their historical, religious,
social and commercial life. The writer of this article has made himself
familiar with these sources, expecting to find in them disclosures about
the location of the ancient copper mines, as soon as he could discover
what _copper_ was called in the language of the natives. The answer
comes in this connection.
The Mexicans had the habit of giving a name to their towns and districts
from the objects which were found in abundance in their neighborhood.
Therefore, copper regions ought to bear a name which related to this
mineral.
In Lord Kingsborough’s Collection, Vol. V., pages 115–124, there are two
printed alphabetical indices of the names of all the towns, whose
hieroglyphic symbol, or, as we term it, whose coat of arms, is
represented in the Codex Mendoza, to be found in Vol. I. of the same
collection, pages 1–72. This Codex is arranged in three sections. The
first shows the picture-annals of the ancient Aztec-Kings, and the
cities which they conquered (pages 1–17). The second reproduces again
the coats of arms of these cities, but gives in addition the pictures of
all the objects of tribute which these cities had to pay. The third
section exhibits an illustration of how Mexican children were trained
from infancy up to their 15th year. Sections first and second will claim
our interest, exclusively.
Copper, we learn from the Dictionary of Molina[5] was named in the
language of the Nahoa speaking natives, _tepuzque_.[6] Upon searching in
the above quoted Codices, we find three names of towns which are
compounds of this word _tepuzque_. Their names appear in the following
form: Tepoztla, Vol. I., page 8, fig. 2, and the same name on page 26,
fig. 13. Tepoztitla, page 42, fig. 10, and Tepozcolula, page 43, fig. 3.
The cuts 1, 2, 3 and 4, are faithful reproductions of the coats of arms
belonging to these towns.
[Illustration:
CUT 1.
Tepoztla.
]
[Illustration:
CUT 2.
Tepoztla.
]
[Illustration:
CUT 3.
Tepoztitla.
]
[Illustration:
CUT 4.
Tepozcolula.
]
There cannot be any doubt as to the meaning of the objects represented
by these pictures. They mean axes. Their handles appear in a curved
form, the blades at their cutting edges are somewhat rounded, and the
tenons of the blades are inserted below the top of the handles. Both
handles and blades are painted in a reddish brown color, the wood as
well as the copper.
The differences between the pictured representations are the following:
Cuts 1, 2, and 4, show the axes growing out from the top of a mountain,
whilst the axe of cut 3 appears by itself. Further, the axes of cuts 1
and 2, those of _Tepoztla_, show something applied to the handle, which
in cut 1 we recognize to be a single bow-knot, and in cut 2 the same
girdle with a bow-knot, yet wound about a dress of white color,
embroidered with red spots. A notable difference, however, will still be
noticed between the form of the axes in cuts 1, 2, 3, and that in cut 4,
or _Tepozcolula_. We shall speak of this latter, on a later page, as an
instrument very closely related to the other axes.
By means of these pictures we arrive at the knowledge of the following
facts: Copper was undoubtedly found in the neighborhood of the three
named cities. Moreover, copper in these cities was wrought into
axe-blades. Finally, the axe will turn out to be the symbol used for
copper, in general.
Let us accept these facts and see whether this picture for the symbol
for copper does not return on other pages of the same Codex, and thereby
gain more information on the subject. We notice the picture of the
axe-blade reappearing on the pages 39 and 42. Both happen to bear the
same number, that of figure 20, and both belong to the same section of
the Codex which contains the pictures of the tributes paid by the
conquered towns. Cut 5 is a reproduction of fig. 20, page 39, Codex
Mendoza. It shows the metal axe without a handle hanging on a thread
from a line upon which we see five flags are painted. Moreover, at the
left side is a little picture. A flag in Mexican symbol writing
signifies the number twenty.[7]
[Illustration:
CUT 5.
Town of Chilapa.
]
We may therefore conclude that by this combination one hundred copper
axes are indicated. The question now arises, what city may have paid
this tribute of copper axes? The painter has not only omitted to connect
directly these flags and axe with one of the various coats of arms that
are grouped in their neighborhood, but even, if he had done so, the
student, still unacquainted with the art of explaining pictures, would
be unable to make out the name of the city, embodied in the picture of
the coat of arms. We will overcome this difficulty by consulting the
interpretation of the Codex Mendoza, which is printed on the pages 39–89
of Vol. V., Kingsb. Collection. There, on page 73, the suggestion is
given that the tribute objects refer to the town of Chilapa, whose coat
of arms (fig. 2), as we shall notice on the cut, consists of a tub
filled with water, and on whose surface the _chilli_-fruit appears,
better known as the Spanish red pepper _chilli_, red pepper, _atl_,
water, _pa_, in or above. For this reason we learn that the town of
_Chilapa_ was tributary in 100 axes.
[Illustration:
CUT 6.
Town of Chala.
]
In like manner we may proceed with the definition of the picture found
on page 42, fig. 20. The copy given in cut 6, shows 80 blades of copper
axes in fig. 20, and besides 40 little copper bells in fig. 19, and the
interpretation, Vol. V., page 76, informs us that it was the town of
Chala, fig. 26, which had to pay this kind of tribute.
Therefore, the towns of Tepoztla, Tepoztitla, Tepozcolula, and, besides,
those of Chilapa and Xala, must be considered to have been connected, in
one way or the other, with copper mining, copper manufacture, and the
tribute of the same.[8]
A few words on the procuring of the metal from localities where it was
discovered by the natives, may find a suitable place here. Mining, as we
understand it to-day, or as the Spaniards understood it already at the
time of the conquest, was not practised by the natives. Gold and silver
were not broken from the entrails of the rocks. They were collected from
the _placeres_ by a process of mere washing. No notice at all has come
down to us how copper was gathered. We can, however, easily imagine,
that whenever by a chance outcropping a copper vein or stratum became
visible, they probably broke off the ore or mineral to a depth easy to
be reached, and only selected the most solid pieces. It is evident that
the results of such superficial mining must have been very trifling,
certainly not greater than would barely suffice for the fabrication of
the most necessary tools. Herein we will find an explanation, why this
people, though possessing the metal and the technical skill,
nevertheless did not use it for the manufacture of arms. The production
could not have been abundant enough to supply the whole nation or even
the professional soldier with metal weapons. They preferred therefore,
to continue in the ignorance of the Stone-Age.
Where the Mexicans found the _lead_ that was seen in the market-place,
nay, even the purposes for which they might have used it, we have been
entirely unable to learn. _Lead_ in the language of the Nahoas, is
called _temeztli_ (telt stone, metzli moon), moon stone, a name
picturesque and characteristic, as were most of those which stand in the
list of objects that belong to the realm of nature. Not a single picture
referring to lead can be found in the Mexican Codices. The same must
also be said of _tin_, the name of which was _amochictl_, a word
seemingly Nahoatl in form, but whose root was probably derived from a
foreign language. It will be gratifying, however, to learn from the pen
of the great conqueror Cortes himself, where the natives, and afterwards
his followers, found their _tin_. To quote the language of Cortes,[9] “I
am without artillery and weapons, though I have often sent money to
obtain them. But as nothing drives a man to expedients so much as
distress, and as I had already lost the hope that Your Royal Majesty
might be informed of this, I have mustered all my strength to the utmost
in order that I might not lose what I have already obtained with so much
danger and sacrifice of life. I have therefore arranged to have men
immediately sent out in search of copper, and in order to obtain it
without delay I have expended a great amount of money. As soon as I had
brought together a sufficient quantity, I procured a workman, who
luckily was with us, to cast several cannons. Two half-culverines are
now ready, and we have succeeded as far as their size would permit. The
copper was indeed all ready for use, but I had no _tin_. Without _tin_ I
could do nothing, and it caused me a great deal of trouble to find a
sufficient quantity of it for these cannons, for some of our men, who
had tin plates or other vessels of that kind, were not willing to part
with them at any rate. For this reason I have sent out people in all
directions searching for tin, and the Lord, who takes care of
everything, willed graciously that when our distress had reached its
highest point, I found among the natives of _Tachco_[10] small pieces of
tin, very thin and in the form of coins.[11] Making further
investigations I found that this tin, there and in other provinces was
used for money, also that this tin was obtained from the same province
of _Tachco_, the latter being at a distance of 26 leagues from this
town. I also discovered the locality itself of these mines. The
Spaniards whom I despatched with the necessary tools brought me
_samples_ of it, and I then gave them orders that a sufficient quantity
should be procured, and, though it is a work of much labor, I shall be
supplied with the necessary quantity that I require. While searching for
tin, according to a report from those skilled in the subject, a rich
vein of iron-ore was also discovered.
Now supplied with tin I can make the desired cannons, and daily I try to
increase the number, so that now I have already five pieces ready, two
half-culverines, two which are still smaller, one field-piece and two
_sacres_, the same that I brought with me, and another half-culverine
which I purchased from the estate of the Adelantado Ponce de Leon.”
In the above report of Cortes, therefore, we are informed of the name of
the locality where tin was found and dug by the natives. So we have the
facts established that both copper and tin[12] were dug by the natives,
that there was a traffic, in them at that time, that Cortes himself
succeeded in getting at the mines from which they were extracted, and
that he had not been mistaken in his former recognition of their display
for sale in the public market.
But before these ores could be shaped into the above named commercial
forms, it is clear that they still needed to undergo a process of
smelting. As to the peculiar mode of smelting pursued by the natives, we
have not been able to find any distinct reference in the writings of the
chroniclers. It does not appear that the ancient Mexicans understood the
method of the Peruvians of melting their copper in furnaces exposed to
the wind on the lofty sierras, but we may form for ourselves an idea of
how they proceeded from a picture in Codex Mendoza, page 71, fig. 24.
Cut 7 gives a faithful reproduction.
[Illustration:
CUT 7.
Smelting Gold.
]
In the midst of an earthen tripod, surrounded by smoke and flames, we
perceive a small disk of a yellow color. Our attention is called to the
peculiar mark imprinted on the surface of the disk. Upon searching in
Lord Kingsborough’s Collection, Vol. V., page 112, plate 71, where the
interpretation of the little picture is given, we learn, that the man
sitting by the tripod, is meant to be a goldsmith. Hence we conclude the
disk must be understood to mean a round piece of gold, and that very
probably the mark printed on it, was the usual symbolical sign for
gold.[13] At the right of the tripod sits a man wrapped in his mantle,
no doubt the master of the work-shop; for the addition of a flake flying
from his mouth, as the typical sign for language or command, gives us a
right to suppose that we have before us the so-called _temachtiani_, or
master of the trade. At the left side crouches the apprentice,
_tlamachtilli_. He holds in his right hand a staff, one end of which is
in his mouth and the other is placed in the crucible. _Tlapitzqui_, in
the Nahoatl language means at the same time a flute player and a melter
of metal. This etymological version therefore conveys the idea, that the
staff held by the smelter signifies a pipe or tube used for increasing
heat by blowing the fire, as the staff is similar to a long pipe or
flute and is held in the mouth of the workman. In his left hand he holds
a similar staff, but there is no means of recognizing whether it is a
stick for stirring the embers, or a tube to be used alternately with the
other. Now, we shall be permitted to draw a conclusion from this process
of smelting gold as to the manner of smelting copper. The process must
have been exactly the same with both. For, if the Mexican goldsmith,
with the aid of a blowpipe, was able to increase the heat of the fire to
such a degree as to make gold fusible, a heat which requires 1,100° C.,
he cannot have found greater difficulties in melting copper, which
requires nearly the same degree of heat; and tin, which is far more
easily fusible, could have been treated in the same way.
Melting was followed by casting into forms or moulds, and these moulds
must have been of stone. This might be concluded from the language of
Torquemada and Gomara.[14] The words “_by placing one stone above
another one_” are too clear to leave the least doubt as to what the
author meant. This process will account for the absolute identity we had
the opportunity to observe existing between certain trinkets of the same
class, coming chiefly from Nicaragua and Chiriqui. No specimens of a
mould, however, have come to our view, or have been heard of as existing
in any collection, probably because whenever they were met by the
“_huaqueros_,” they did not recognize them as such, and threw them away.
The scanty knowledge we have of all these interesting technical details
will not be wondered at, if we consider that we derive it from no other
class of writers than from unlearned soldiers, and monks unskilled in
the practical matters of this world. But still, the principal reason for
this want of information is that the Mexican artist was as jealous in
keeping his devices secret, as the European. They also formed guilds,
into which the apprentices were sworn, and their tongues were bound by
fear as well as interest. Let us quote only one instance. The Vice-King
Mendoza reports to the Emperor[15] that he offered to pardon one of
those workmen, if he would disclose how he was able to counterfeit the
Spanish coins in so striking a way. But the native preferred to remain
silent and was put to death.
Here is the place for asking the question: Would not the early Mexicans,
aside from their practice of casting the above metals, have employed
also that of hammering? Our reply would be emphatically in the negative,
if taking the expression “hammering” in its strict meaning, which is
that of working with the hammer. The writers of the Conquest have left
the most explicit testimony, that the natives, only after the arrival of
the Spaniards became acquainted with this instrument, and with the art
of using it for working high reliefs out of a metal sheet. Moreover, the
native vocabulary has no word for the metal hammer as it is commonly
understood. Yet the wooden mallet was known, the so-called
_quauhololli_, and used by the sculptors. In the gradual education of
mankind in technical knowledge, beating of metals, of course, must have
preceded casting. The ancestors of the early Mexicans, at a certain
epoch, stood on the same low stage of workmanship as their more distant
northern brethren. But when the inventor of the mould had taught them
how to multiply the objects most in demand, by the means of this easy,
rapid and almost infallible operation, we must not imagine that he had
done away entirely with the old practice of beating and stretching metal
with a stone. The practice, in certain cases, would have been
maintained: as for instance, when a diadem, a shield, or a breastplate
was to be shaped, and on occasions when the object to be made required
the use of a thin flat sheet of metal. Such objects are not only
described by the writers, but are also represented by the native
painters. A specimen of such a kind is mentioned, which on account of
its extraordinary beauty, workmanship and value left a deep impression
on the conquerors. It was the present which Motezuma made to Cortes at
his landing, on the _Culhua_ coast, “the two gold and silver wheels;”
the one, as they said, representing the Sun, the other the Moon.
According to the measures they took of them, these round discs must have
had a diameter of more than five feet. It is preposterous to imagine
that round sheets of this size should have been the product of
casting.[16]
We pass on now to discuss the various tools which we have reason to
think were cast in copper or in bronze, by the early Mexicans.
The _axe_ stands in the first place. Cortes, we shall remember, omitted
to specify any of the objects which he saw exposed for sale in the
market-place. Not so his companion, Bernal Diaz. He, after a lapse of 40
years, when occupied with the writing of his memoirs, has no
recollection of other tools, which he undoubtedly must have seen, except
the much admired bronze axes. Specimens of these were sent over to Spain
in the same vessel on which the above mentioned presents to the Emperor
were shipped. At their arrival at Palos, Petrus Martyr of the Council
House of the Indies was one of the first to examine the curiosities sent
from the New World, and to gather from the lips of the bearers their
verbal comments. His remarks on the axes he had seen, are “with their
bronze axes and hatchets, cunningly tempered, they (the Indians) fell
the trees.” There are three expressions in this passage which will claim
our attention. First, we learn that two classes of axes were sent over,
one of which Martyr recognized as a “_secūris_” the other as a
“_dolabra_” hence a common axe, and another which was like a pick or a
hoe. Further on we shall give an illustration of these axes, taken from
the pictures of the natives, when we are to recur again to this subject.
Our author, in the second place, describes the two axes as of bronze,
for this is the English rendering of the Latin expression:
_aurichalcea_. Thirdly, we learn, that the blades were “cunningly
tempered” or “_argute temperata_.” This language requires explanation.
The attentive reader will remember what has been said respecting Cortes
and Bernal Diaz, whether they recognized the bronze objects in the
market as a mixture of copper and tin, of themselves, or whether they
had been inquisitive enough to ask for information, and in consequence
learned that it was a common practice among the workmen to mix these two
metals, in certain proportions, in order to produce a harder quality of
copper. The latter hypothesis seems to gain a certain corroboration from
Martyr’s language. For there cannot be the slightest doubt as to what he
meant when putting down the words “cunningly tempered.” He wished to
express the idea, that he had positive grounds for the conviction, that
the metal of which the axes were made, was not a _natural_ but an
_artificial_ product. What grounds for this conviction he had, he does
not, however, communicate to his reader.
Our author has the well deserved reputation of being one of the fullest
authorities for all that concerns the discovery and conquest of the
western hemisphere. Of all, however, that he has written, the pages
containing the landing of Cortes in Yucatan, and the entrance of the
Spaniards in the capital of Motezuma, appear to have been the most
attractive to the general reader and the student; these pages being torn
and soiled in the existing copies of his original Latin, as well as of
its translation into foreign languages. We mention this circumstance,
for it is not without a certain bearing upon our question. It proves how
confidently the reading public has drawn upon the author’s statement,
and how eagerly students have sought to digest his amazing accounts,
quite unsuspicious, however, of the errors in dates as well as facts;
admiring rather than criticizing the pompous phraseology of his mediæval
Latin, or his often very suggestive but somewhat flighty speculations.
In Petrus Martyr, therefore, we may recognize the originator of the
widespread theory that the Mexicans possessed the secret of
manufacturing bronze in the highest perfection and in accordance with
metallurgical rules. We are, however, forewarned. The statement is of
importance, and must be weighed before accepting it. We fear it will
fail like many genial but unsupported inspirations, of which our author
was susceptible. If we ask whence he derived the notion that the bronze
tools were “argute temperata” we shall find that he failed to give any
authority. Petrus Martyr, whom we often find quoting the full names and
special circumstances by the aid of which he gathered the material for
his historical letters, does not follow this laudable practice on this
occasion, even though the matter was one of importance to investigators
like himself. For these instruments of bronze, and many other tools sent
over, must have been, in another way, still more interesting to him than
the objects of industry themselves. These tools afforded the most
palpable proof of an independent industry practised by that strange
people beyond the sea; they were a key perhaps also to the riddle, how
it was possible to perform those marvels of workmanship. This silence of
Petrus Martyr respecting the details of the “_argutia_” which he
professes that the natives employed in manufacturing their bronze is so
much the more striking, since we find him enlarging a long while upon
their manufacture of paper; and he shows himself correctly informed
respecting that process. It is clear that the one was as well worth
detailing as the other. Therefore we cannot help expressing the
suspicion, that whilst he had correct information respecting the one, he
had none respecting the other.
It would, however, be venturing too much to reject so important a
statement merely on the grounds alleged. In order to save it, we could
fairly say, that he omitted his references through carelessness.
Accepting this position, let us then seek to ascertain, who his
informants might have been, and chiefly inquire what they were able to
tell him about the manufacture of bronze in Mexico.
The circumstances accompanying the arrival of the precious gifts from
the capital at the Camp of Cortes, their shipping and unlading at Palos,
and their registration at the custom-house, are perfectly known. From
them we gather the following points: First, no Spaniard had yet set foot
in the interior, they were still loitering on the shores of Vera Cruz,
where the embassies of Motezuma made their appearance. Hence, they were
still shut off from the opportunity of inspecting the workshops of
Tezcuco, Mexico and Azcapotzalco, the centres from which this special
class of merchandise was spread over the whole isthmus. Cortes, who had
many reasons for hastening the transfer of the precious treasures to the
ships, without much delay despatched one of them, intrusting two of his
friends, Montejo and Puerto Carrero, with the mission of presenting to
the Emperor the report of his startling discoveries and the presents
coming from the new vassal-king. Petrus Martyr, indeed, mentions these
two cavaliers, as being Cortes’ messengers, and it is highly probable
that it was from their lips that he gathered among other correct
information also that about the manufacture of paper. The special kind
of paper he describes, is one which was manufactured and used
exclusively on the coast of Yucatan and Vera Cruz, not the paper of the
maguey-plant which grows on the high plateaus, but that of the
amatl-tree, a native of the tierra caliente. Being in the very country
where this kind of paper was manufactured, the Spanish writers,
therefore, had the opportunity of hearing how paper was made, even,
possibly, of seeing the process itself, which they had not enjoyed in
the case of bronze. Could they have got the information from the mouths
of the embassadors? We know they held shyly aloof. The intercourse was
very ceremonious, and difficult besides, since the conversation passed
through the two native languages, and we cannot fairly imagine that the
technical question of manufacturing bronze should have become one of the
topics of inquiry. Moreover, we do not believe that special attention
would have been paid to these bronze implements, if we consider the
overpowering impression which the richness and rareness of the other
objects must have caused them. Finally, would they not have believed the
yellow metal to be gold? since they dreamt of nothing else, and were far
from imagining that the opulent ruler of Mexico would have made their
Emperor a present of poor bronze tools.
We are not able to offer any conclusive evidence against the remarkable
statement made by Petrus Martyr. We are fully aware how many positive
proofs are required to render it totally invalid. But we deemed it to be
our duty not to withhold from our readers the many grave doubts we
entertain against its too ready acceptance. We have still to add, that
this statement stands isolated and without support in the whole
literature of the Conquest. His contemporary writers, indeed,
occasionally speak of copper axes that were tempered by an alloy. None
of them, however, goes so far as he, to impute to the early Mexicans the
preparation of an artificial bronze, as was so manifestly implied by the
words, _argute temperatis_.
The passages which speak about the axes used by the natives are cited
below[17]. Three kinds are mentioned, stone, copper and bronze axes. The
first of them must have been in use among such tribes as lived outside
of the circle of Mexican trade and civilization, or among those which
intentionally held themselves aloof. For its retention and use the
complete absence of ores in certain districts may have had a decided
influence, as for instance was the case with the peninsula of
Yucatan.[18] The shape of the Yucatecan blades and that of the handle
and the adjustment of both, at least as far as is shown (see cut 8) by
the pictures of the Dresden Codex, which are of genuine Yucatecan
origin, appear to have been identical with those of the interior of
Anahuac.
[Illustration:
CUT 8.
Axes of Yucatan.
]
Among the copper and bronze axes noted below, those of Nicaragua appear
to have been of an uncommonly rich alloy of gold. The reader will smile
at Herrera’s account of the shrewdness shown by the native ladies in
keeping for themselves the plates of pure gold they were attired with,
and burdening the soldiers of Gonzales with heavy metal axes.[19] The
axes mentioned by Gomara, undoubtedly came from the mines of Anahuac,
since their alloy was not only gold, but tin and silver. Gomara is the
first who notes the chisel and the borer.
Let us further ascertain, what Father Sahagun[20] is able to tell us
about Mexican metal tools. As a teacher of the young native generation,
he made it his life’s task to teach his pupils all that concerned the
religious belief, the history and the industry of their forefathers. We
extract from Lib. 10, Cap. 7, the following passages and translate them
as literally as possible: “The goldsmith is an expert in the selection
of good metal. He knows how to make of it whatever he likes and does it
with skill and elegance. He is conversant with all kinds of devices, and
all this he does with composure and accuracy. (_Con medida y compas_).
He knows how to purify the ore, and makes plates of silver as well as of
gold from the cast metal. He knows likewise how to make moulds of carbon
(_moldes de carbon_), and how to put the metal into the fire in order to
smelt it. The unskilful goldsmith does not know how to purify the
silver, he leaves it mixed up with the ashes, and has his sly ways in
taking and stealing something of the silver.” Further on in Cap. 24: “he
who is a trader in needles (_agujas_), casts, cleans, and, polishes them
well; he makes also bells (_cascabeles_), filters (_aguijillos_),
punches (_punzones_), nails (_clavos_), axes (_hachas_), hatchets
(_destrales_), cooper’s adzes (_azuelas_), and chisels (_escoplos_).”
In these two passages is summed up all that we sought to gather
piecewise from the writers of the Conquest, on our special question. A
few new features, however, are cropping out in this enumeration of
implements, which give rise to the suspicion, that the goldsmith is
described, not as he worked before the year 1521, but as he had
perfected himself and enlarged his technical knowledge through the
intervention of Spanish mechanics, in the year of Sahagun’s writing,
about 1550. We mean the moulds of carbon, the nails,[21] and the
cooper’s adze, of which we read in Sahagun exclusively, and of which no
pictures or other evidences of their ante-Spanish existence have been
preserved.
Pictures of needles frequently occur in the Mexican paintings. But it is
understood that they are without an eye, the introduction of our sewing
needle having been an actual revelation to the natives. The head of a
Mexican needle, or rather pin, was full, and split like that of an
animal’s bone. The borer, certainly, had no handle or spiral point. Of
all these stitching, piercing and drilling instruments nothing has been
preserved, in kind.
[Illustration:
CUT 9.
Copper Chisel found in Oaxaca.
]
A chisel of copper was, however, discovered by Captain Dupaix[22] near
the city of Antequera (in Oaxaca). We give a faithful fac-simile of it
in cut 9. It is described by the discoverer in the following words:
“There are also many chisels of red copper found in the neighborhood of
this city, a specimen of which I possess, and will show in the
illustrations. Its length is seven inches, and the thickness is one
square inch (_sic_), and one side is edged, and this edge is a little
dull, showing that it had been in use. We do not know the temper they
gave to these instruments in order to employ them in their labors and in
their arts, or to give the wood or possibly the stone a regular form.”
We do not know if this chisel is still preserved in the Museum of
Mexico, to which it was presented by Captain Dupaix. If not, we hope to
be somewhat indemnified by another specimen of bronze chisel, of which
we are now in pursuit, and which according to description is similar in
form and composition to the one spoken of. Señor Andrez Aznar Perez, now
in New York, ploughed up such a tool about twelve years ago, on his
plantation near the river Tzompan in Tabasco, at the depth of nearly 12
inches. It was entirely solid, and had a slightly rounded edge, about an
inch in length, and he offers to have it brought from Yucatan for
further examination.
From the illustration of Captain Dupaix and the description of Mr.
Perez, we can for the moment only conclude that the ancient Mexican
chisel was similar in its form to that which our stone-masons now make
use of.
In regard to the form of ancient Mexican axes, we gave a general idea at
the beginning of this essay, but we have still several details to
discuss. In the illustrations the curved wooden handle will no doubt
appear remarkable. The Mexican painters were such faithful imitators of
what they saw, that we cannot presume they would have indulged in what
was an essential alteration of the object to be copied. If the handle of
the axe was curved, they would have copied it curved, and thus it
appears not only in the Mexican but also in the Yucatecan picture
codices.
Those acquainted with the practical handling of axes, and with felling
trees, know that a curved handle must increase the swinging power of an
axe to a considerable degree, and to have used this form is a remarkable
instance of Mexican technical craft and cunning. It would be worth while
to investigate whether this use of a curved handle was exclusively
confined to the natives of Central America, or had passed beyond its
boundaries, north as well as south.
We further learn from the pictures, that not the blade of the axe, but
the handle had an opening at a certain distance from the top, into which
the blade was fitted.
The specimens represented in the cuts 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, appear to be common
chopping axes. In the coat of arms of the town of Tepozcolula (see cut
4), however, as already pointed out, the form of the axe differs from
those of Tepoztla and Tepoztitlan. In order to obtain a correct idea of
these particular kinds of axes, we invite the reader to compare it with
another picture (Cod. Mendoza, page 71, fig. 77), and which we give in
cut 10. The shape of the axes themselves are evidently alike, in the one
as well as in the other picture, only that in cut 10 the axe is not in
connection with the coat of arms, but is held by a man who is at work
dropping or squaring the branch of a tree, from which chips are flying
off. This kind of axe, evidently, served a different purpose from those
chopping axes of Tepoztla. It was the hatchet used by the carpenter.
Thus reads the explanation given in Kingsb. Coll., Vol. V., page 112.
[Illustration:
CUT 10.
Mexican carpenter.
]
This instrument is of the most extravagant form. Were it not for the
authentic interpretation of the picture and the accessories we should
not be able to make out what kind of object it represented, and least of
all that it was a hatchet.
Let us examine its construction. The wooden handle has the shape of all
the Mexican and Yucatecan axes,—that of a somewhat curved club. But
instead of its being chopped off at the top, the handle extends farther
and is bent down to an angle of about 45 degrees. On the head of this
bent top a deep notch is visible, into which the blade of a little axe
is fixed, being fastened by a tongue or string wound three times around.
Thus, when a blow was struck, we can presume, the head of the tenon
would not move, from the resistance it met from the bottom of the notch.
Thus much the picture proves, and we cannot learn anything more of this
instrument. We only presume that in order to get a durable handle, they
sought a curved branch, and that this branch came generally from one
particular class of trees. The word _Tepozcolula_ signifies, properly,
the town in which copper was bent, _tepuzque_ (copper), and coloa (to
bend), but we learn from our picture, that the natives understood these
words to signify the town where the curved handles were manufactured,
which seems to be corroborated by another picture which we found for the
coat of arms of the town of Tepozcolula, Cod. Mendoza, pl. 45, fig. 5,
in which the painter (see cut 11) has laid a special stress upon this
curving of the _handle_, by shaping the end of the handle into an
exaggerated spiral form.
[Illustration:
CUT 11.
Tepozcolula.
]
There existed also a town, in which carpenter’s work was the chief
occupation of the inhabitants. This is to be inferred from the coat of
arms belonging to the town of Tlaximaloyan, cut 12, Cod. Mendoza, pl.
10, fig. 5.
_Tlaxima_ signifies to work as a carpenter, and _tlaximalli_ a chip of
wood. The “_little_” axe of copper, found by Dupaix at Quilapa, and of
which he gives an illustration not differing from the known shapes of
all axes, is very probably a specimen of this carpenter’s axe (see
Dupaix, Vol. II., 3d Expedition, Planche II., fig. 4).
[Illustration:
CUT 12.
Town of Tlaximaloyan.
]
It is but natural to think that being in possession of the large
chopping axe, the invention of the small hatchet would have become
incomparably easier than that of this awkward carpenter’s tool. We are,
however, too little informed to judge or to criticize its construction
and rather incline to think that these people had reasons of their own
for giving it the form it has. It must have been the one which Sahagun
called “destral,” or carpenter’s hatchet.[23]
We can still offer another form of copper tool once used by the natives.
Dupaix[24] discovered the original near the same town where he had found
the chisel. Below is a copy of his drawing in cut 13:
[Illustration:
CUT 13.
Copper Tool, found by Dupaix in Oaxaca.
]