circumference of a circle. The cutting blade is 10 inches wide. Like the
axes, it has a tenon by which it could be fastened to an opening in a
wooden handle. It will appear from closer description that it was too
thin to have been used for heavy operations. Let us consult the
narration of the explorer: “This instrument is of red and very pure
copper, and when touched it gives out a sonorous sound. The metal is
_not hammered_ but _cast_. It is of not much weight, symmetrical, and of
graceful shape. The contours are regular and resemble those of an
anchor. It is flat on both sides, the portion serving as a handle (or
tenon) is a little thicker and slopes towards the edge, which cuts as
well as a chisel. An Indian, named Pascual Baltolano, from the village
of Zocho Xocotlan, half a mile distant from this city of Antequera, a
few months ago, when tilling his field met with an earthen pot which
contained 23 dozen of these blades, their quality, thickness and size
being a little different from each other. This gives rise to the
supposition that there existed various moulds, by means of which these
specimens were multiplied and cast. They did not differ greatly from
that which I possess. We meet here with a great difficulty, which is to
determine to what usage these instruments were destined,—to agriculture
or mechanics, as instruments of sacrifice or a variety of offensive
weapon that was fixed in the point of a lance? That which is certain,
however, is that they are found in abundance in this province and that
merchants buy these metals from the Indians and rank them high on
account of the superior quality of the ore.” On proceeding in his
expedition, the same author reaches the village of Mitla, where in the
parochial church he receives the following disclosure on the purpose of
the before-mentioned tools: “One day, when hearing mass in Mitla, I
noticed an ancient picture, which represented (San.) Isidro, the patron
of the laborers, and saw him painted holding in his right hand a pole
armed with the problematic blade. I therefrom conclude, that like the
ancient Indians, the native laborers of to-day have adopted this
instrument as a distinctive mark of their profession, and that instead
of being an instrument of death it must be viewed as one for giving
life.” This explanation agrees satisfactorily with what could be
inferred from its size and its peculiar shape, and if we imagine the
tenon bent and in this form fastened to the top of a pole we should
possibly have discovered a certain garden instrument of which the
Spaniards spoke as always used by the natives, the _uictli_, or coa,
hoe. It was never described in particular, nor could we discover it in
the pictures, but Molina’s translation of _uictli_ with “_coa_” which is
hoe, tells the story.
There is still something more in this passage of Dupaix, that is worth
considering. Among the 23 dozen of the instruments contained in the
earthen pot, and of which he was informed that they were similar in
shape to that which he had found, it is clear that there must have been
a great number of very diminutive size; otherwise we cannot conceive how
so many of them would have been placed in the pot, at all. Let us take
advantage of this suggestion and suppose Dupaix’s engraving, cut 13,
reduced to a diminutive size. We make thereby a little figure, and we
cannot deny that it looks like a Greek _Tau_. Of such a _Greek Tau_,
formed from copper, and used by the natives as money at the time of the
Conquest mention is made by the chroniclers.[25] They may be right, but
with the understanding that these copper pieces were not manufactured
for the purpose of serving as coin, but as tools, which of course, came
into market and became objects of barter, as we read the copper bells
also did, besides grains of the cacao fruit, bales of cotton, axes and
other articles of common necessity.
Thus much, and no more, we were able to glean from the early literature
of the Conquest and from the paintings of the natives. As we anticipated
at the outset, the testimony bearing on copper industry among the early
Mexicans is altogether incomplete and lacks that fulness of description
in which those writers indulge when treating topics of social customs,
religious rites, or monstrous idols. In but few instances the pictures
gathered from the codices illustrate the dim suggestions and the
doubtful wording of the Spanish text, so as to give at least a general
idea of the localities where the copper ores were obtained, of the
process of smelting, of the moulds that were used, and the objects or
tools that were produced by these means.
One point however we think we have come very near deciding, and one
which when collecting our notes was constantly in mind, namely: Whether
the Mexican bronze was to be viewed as an artificial or a natural
product? There was a great doubt concerning this question caused by the
first notices respecting the composition of the bronze. The expressions
of Cortes and Bernal Diaz were of so condensed a character that we were
at a loss how to reduce them to their elementary meaning, and the doubt
was not removed when examining apart each of the subsequent writers on
the same subject. But when putting their statements together, a certain
basis, at least, could be obtained, from which to deduce a settled
opinion. From the combined statements we learned that the bronze found
among the natives contained a rich basis of copper, which was mixed
either with gold, or with silver, or with tin, and we might infer from
this variety of admixtures, that the natives manufactured their _laton_
according to a fixed method. But, on the contrary, as the three metals
named are always found to be the steady components of Mexican copper
ore, we are led to the presumption, that these ores were worked in their
unaltered condition, just as nature had produced them. It is not indeed
meant to teach thereby, that the native did not appreciate the fact,
that copper of a deep red was softer than that of a lighter color.
Whenever they had to manufacture a chisel and had a choice between the
two qualities, we are certain they would have employed the lighter metal
for this purpose. But we hardly believe that they considered the light
metal to be a composition of the red colored copper with either silver,
gold or tin. This belief would involve a presupposition of metallurgical
science in the early Mexicans, that we have not the least knowledge they
had ever attained to. On the other hand, however, there is a strong
reason for the belief, that they recognized this light metal to be
related to the red copper. For if they had thought this bronze or
_laton_ to be a separate kind of metal, they would have had a separate
name for it, as they had for all the other metals, from the gold down to
the tin, and even to the cinnabar. Bronze would have been called
_tepuzque_ as was copper, but probably—with the addition descriptive
either of color or of hardness.
We were unable to discover one single hint, from which to infer that
they possessed the knowledge of hardening copper by dipping the hot
metal into water. This is a hypothesis, often noted and spoken of, but
which ranges under the efforts made for explaining what we have no
positive means to verify or to ascertain.
Though we have gained so little from our researches, this little,
however, we hope may incite others to extend their investigations, and
thus render the path clearer which we have tried to explore into this
field of prehistoric industry. The most substantial proofs and
contributions may be expected from our fellow-students in Mexico. They
dwell upon the ground which was the scene of this ancient industry. They
are also in a continuous contact with a numerous indigenous race, which
despite of European attempts to improve their working facilities, still
tenaciously cling to their old usages and fashions. Our Museums are
overcrowded with Mexican idols, pottery, and flint arrow-heads. One
specimen of an ancient tin-borer, one of a copper axe or hoe, or of a
bronze chisel would be counted as a very welcome and valuable
acquisition.
-----
Footnote 1:
_A. v. Humboldt_, Essai s. 1. Nouv. Espagne, Tome III., Livre 4, Chap.
ii. _W. H. Prescott_, History of the Conquest of Mexico, Book I.,
Chap. 5. _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, Hist. d. Nat. Civ. du Mexique, Livre
III., Chap. 7, pag. 678.
Footnote 2:
_Carta (2da) de relacion_, por _Fernando Cortes_, de la villa Segura
de Frontera desta Nueva España, á 30 de Octubre de 1520 años “donde
hay todos los generos de mercaderias, que en todas las tierras se
hallan, asi de mantenimientos como de vituallas, joyas de oro y de
plata, de plomo, de _laton_, de _cobre_, de _estano_, de piedras, de
huesos, etc.”
Footnote 3:
_Bernal Diaz de Castillo_, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la
Nuevo España, Madrid, 1632, I. Vol., Cap. 92, “y vendian hachas de
laton, y cobre y estaño.” The meaning of this passage is, beyond all
misinterpretation: He saw for sale bronze axes, and besides pieces of
copper and others of tin. The order, in which these three words stand,
conveys a suggestion that we should not wholly ignore. The word
_laton_ (bronze) is followed by _cobre_ (copper) and _estano_ (tin),
the two well known components of bronze. Might not the relative
position of the three words teach that, to them, bronze was the most
important metal and was therefore assigned the first place, mentioning
the copper and tin afterwards as the elements from which the bronze
was made? We might also go farther and inquire how the first metal
came to be recognized by them as bronze. In framing a reply, let us
consider three possible explanations. Let us suppose, first, that they
knew the bronze well enough to recognize it at once. They, further,
may have entertained doubts as to its identity, but finally have been
led to this conclusion by seeing the copper and tin exhibited in the
stalls, together with the bronze. Thirdly, we may also suppose, that
they would desire to obtain more positive confirmation and therefore
have inquired and learned from their native guides that this bronze
was actually a composition of the two other metals before them.
Therefore, considering all these cases, when engaged in composing
their narration, the Spaniards would have remembered the circumstances
connected with the memorable visit to the market, and have enumerated
the metals in the order in which they actually are found; first, the
bronze, the main object of their curiosity, and then the copper and
tin as the key to the puzzle.
We, however, make no defence of this forced and artificial
interpretation of the language, and still less would in this manner
build a premise from which to deduce the final conclusion, that the
natives make bronze from copper and tin. On the contrary, the facts
elicited from our material, as will be seen later, conduct us to very
different conclusions. Still, having been struck by the occurrence of
the three words and their relative positions, we could not dismiss
them altogether, especially as Cortes and Bernal Diaz were
eye-witnesses and were, therefore, of highest authority. Besides, it
is by no means impossible that in the future, instruments of bronze
may actually be discovered and found to be composed of tin and copper.
In such an event our judgment would favor the opinion that Cortes and
his followers were keener observers and investigators than those who
during three and one-half centuries have attempted to ventilate the
question.
For the same position of words, compare also _Gomara_ (_Francisco
Lopez de_), Historia General de las Indias, Ed. Barcia, Cap. 79:
“There is also much featherwork in the market, and gold, silver,
copper, lead, bronze (_laton_) and tin, though these three latter
metals are scarce.” Gomara, it will be noticed, changed somewhat the
position of the words, as compilers often do. He was a secretary to
Cortes, and his work appeared in Zaragoza, 1552–1553, five years after
Cortes’ death.
Footnote 4:
_Bernal Diaz_, Chap. 147.
Footnote 5:
A Vocabulario en la lengua Castellana y Mexicana, por el Rev^n Padre
Fray _Alonso de Molina_: Guardian del Convento de San Antonio de
Tezcuco, de la Orden de los Frayles Menores. México, 1572. This
edition was preceded by a smaller one, 1552, which was the _fourteenth
book_ in the series of those which were printed in Mexico.
Footnote 6:
Let us quote from Bernal Diaz, Chapter 157, without any comment, the
following anecdote concerning the word _tepuzque_. “In the smelting of
gold there was also allowed an eighth of alloy to every ounce to
assist the men in the purchase of the necessaries of life. But we (the
soldiers) derived no advantage from this, but on the contrary, it
proved very prejudicial to us, for the merchants added the same
percentage to the price of their goods and sold for five pesos what
was only worth three, and so this alloy became, as the Indians term
it, tepuzque or copper. This expression became so common among us,
that we added it to the names of the distinguished cavaliers to
express the worth of their character, as, for instance, we used to
say, Señor Don Juan of so much tepuzque.”
Footnote 7:
Those who wish to be more extensively instructed in the Mexican system
of numeration can read: _Leon y Gama_, Descripcion Hist. y Cronol. de
las dos Piedras, Parte II., Appendice II., page 128, Edit. C. M. de
Bustamante, Mexico, 1832. _Clavigero_, Storia antica di Messico,
English translation by Ch. Cullen, London, 1807, Vol. I., Book 4, pag.
410; and an article recently published by _Orozco y Berra_, in Tom.
I., Entrega 6ma of the Anales del Museo Nacional de Mexico, 1879, page
258, which article is the most complete hitherto written on the
subject, and is illustrated by 53 cuts.
Footnote 8:
There is, indeed, one passage in _Herrera (Antonio de)_, Hist. Gen. de
los hechos de los Castellanos, Madrid, 1729, in his introductory
Descripcion de las Indias, §§ Zacatula and Colima, where the working
of copper mines by the indigenous people of these provinces is
mentioned: “There are very abundant copper mines in this district,
more towards the East, and near the port of Santiago. The Indians make
_marvelous vessels_ (_vasos_) of this copper, because it is sweet
(_dulce_). They have, however, still another kind of copper, which is
hard, and which they employed for tilling the ground, instead of using
iron, for they were not acquainted with iron before the Spaniards
entered the kingdom.” As will be seen later, there is no doubt as to
the latter assertion. But we fear the former to be an anachronism and
the manufacturing of _vasos de cobre_ (copper vessels) will have to be
assigned to the epoch after the Conquest, when the art of hammering
was introduced and eagerly accepted and practised by the natives.
Footnote 9:
Carta de Hernan Cortes al Emperador, de la gran ciudad de
Tenochtitlan, desta Nueva España, a 13 dias del mes de Octubre de
1524. Edicion _Gayangos_ (Don Pascual de), Paris, 1866.
Footnote 10:
Tachco, to-day Tasco, at a distance of 25 miles, S. S. W. from the
Capital. A. v. Humboldt visited the memorable spot. See Essay s. l.
Nouv. Espagne, Livre IV., Chap. xi.: “At the west of Tehuilotepec, is
the Cerro de la Campañia, where Cortes began his work of
investigation.”
Footnote 11:
The words of the text are: “Ciertas pieçeçuelas dello, a manera de
moneda muy delgada, y procediendo por mio pezoquiza, halle que en la
dicha provincia y aun en otras, se trataba por moneda.”
Footnote 12:
In Molina’s vocabulary a suggestion can be found for what technical
purposes _tin_ might have been employed. The word _teputzlacopintli_
is translated with cañuto de estaño, para horadar piedras preciosas
(cylinder of tin for perforating precious stones). We may, therefore,
presume that the holes bored through the well known green jade
trinkets, were drilled by the aid of the mentioned cañuto de estaño.
Footnote 13:
This little figure symbolizing gold, recurs only once more in all
those Mexican paintings which we have been able to examine. It stands
in Vol. I., Kingsb. Collection, Cod. Mendoza, page 13, fig. 4, and is
identical with that represented by the engraving. We do not venture
too far in asserting that the symbol on this gold piece represents a
genuine Mexican numeral. It is composed of a cross, having a dot in
each of its quadrants. This cross is the well known symbol of the
number 8000 (_xiquipilli_), and each dot stands for the number 1. We
have thus expressed four times 8000 (nahui xiquipilli) or 32,000.
Here, however, the interpretation ends, so far as it may be based upon
accepted authorities. Whatever else there is to be learned concerning
this number 32,000, found on the gold piece, must be derived by the
confessedly hazardous process of induction.
Nevertheless, let us try this process and ascertain what the number
32,000 actually refers to. In answering this question it may, perhaps,
fairly be assumed that the number stands in a direct relation to a
certain numerical unity, like that in which hundreds stand to the
tens, 100:1. Such a numerical unity, however, presupposes the
existence of some tangible equivalent, which in Mexican commerce, if
it was not some small piece of metal, would have had some other
conventional representation, either in merchandise or in labor. If
such a unity actually existed it is clear that its value must have
been fixed either by weight or by measure. There is, however, no
positive proof that such a unity, fixed by weight or measure, ever
existed among the Mexicans. Cortes, in the above quoted letter,
pretends that it was impossible for him to detect the use of any
weights or scales, and no writer after him has touched this question
or given any other decision. Respecting measures, there is no direct
testimony at all. But, on the other hand, it is hardly to be imagined
that these people, of whose religious administration and social polity
we have such abundant evidences, should have been deficient to such an
extent in the department of their commercial polity as not to have
found any method by which the proportion between the value of the
precious metal to merchandise in all its forms was to be expressed. We
must guard ourselves against the fallacy that because we are not
acquainted with the method it could not have existed. There are
grounds to believe that Cortes was right in saying that the Mexicans
did not know the use of weights (their vocabulary does not show any
word answering to peso, pesilla, libra, balanza romana), but, we think
they knew perfectly the use of measures (the vocabulary gives about
twenty words for all varieties of this operation); and in regard to a
certain unity of measure employed in gold transactions, there are
indications given by other trustworthy writers that this unity might
be detected in the quills, of conventional length, and probably of
conventional diameter, which quills were filled up with grains of gold
dust, by the color and shades of which they graduated the respective
value. Bernal Diaz, Chapter 92: Antes de salir de la misma plaza,
estaban otros muchos mercaderes, que, segun dixeron, era que tenian a
_vender oro en granos_ como lo sacan de las minas, metido el oro en
unos _canutillos_ delgados de los anserones de tierra (thin goose
quills) e asi blancos porque se pareciese el oro por defuera, y por el
_largor y gordor_ de los canutillos (length and width of the quills)
tenian entre ellos su cuenta (they made up their account) que tantas
mantas o que xiquipiles de cacao salia o qualquier otra cosa a que lo
trocavan.
This point being settled let us next introduce one other, for it will
contribute to strengthen the probability that besides the quill there
existed still a lower unity, that of the grain of gold itself, by
which they counted. For this purpose, let us turn again to the gold
piece represented in the painting. It is round. This reminds us of
what was told by Cortes of the little pieces of _tin_ discovered in
Tachco, which, he said, were used as coins. Likewise, we read in
Bernal Diaz that Motezuma used to pay with pieces of gold when he lost
in playing _patol_ (trictrac) with his Spanish jailors. The word
employed by the author and eye-witness of the game, is “_tejuelo_,”
which, according to Spanish usages and the dictionaries of their
language, signifies: a round piece of metal. The author moreover
informs us of the value of this tejuelo. It was 50 ducats of weight
and must, therefore, have been equivalent to, at least, one hundred
dollars of gold. Since Bernal Diaz in this entire passage wishes to
express his highest esteem for Motezuma on account of the princely
generosity with which he paid even those whom he knew had cheated him,
we may fairly conclude that these tejuelos were not the lowest, but
rather the highest, gold pieces that he had at his disposal. Should we
now remember the number, 32,000, which is the highest found
represented in Mexican pictures (they generally never exceed that of
8000, the _xiquipilli_), it is not at all improbable that the
Motezuma-tejuelo, about 100 dollars worth, might have been equivalent
to 32,000 unities, while this unity may have been one grain of gold.
For if we would divide 100 dollars of gold into 32,000 equal parts, or
still farther divide one gold dollar into 320 equal parts, each part
would represent a very small portion of gold, but still large enough
to be counted separately with the finger. This was the way the
gold-dust was collected on the placeres, not by men but by women and
children. The procedure was primitive, indeed, in the highest degree.
In such a way, however, gold gathering was undoubtedly practised in
the first stage of men’s civilization. If not written in history, yet
the linguistical testimony bears witness to it. We find the expression
“_grain of gold_” to be the common property among the ancient and
modern nations in connection with commerce and the weighing of gold.
Footnote 14:
_Torquemada_ (Fray Juan de) Monarquia Indiana, Madrid, 1613, Vol. II.,
Book 13, Chapter 1. “The goldsmiths did not possess the tools
necessary for hammering metals, but with one stone placed above
another one, they make a flat cup or a plate.” (Pero con una piedra
sobre otra hacian una taza llana y un plato.) _Gomara, l. c._ “They
will cast a platter in a mould with eight corners, and every corner of
several metals, that is to say, the one of gold, the other of silver,
without any kind of solder. They will also cast a little caldron with
loose handles hanging thereto, as we used to cast a bell. They will
also cast in a mould a fish with one scale of silver on its back and
another of gold; they will make a parrot of metal so that his tongue
shall shake and his head move and his wings flutter; they will cast an
ape in a mould so that both hands and feet will stir, and holding a
spindle in his hand, seeming to spin, yea, and an apple in his hand,
as if he would eat it. Our Spaniards were not a little amazed at the
sight of these things, for our goldsmiths are not to be compared to
theirs.” _Bernal Diaz, Chapter_ 91. “I will first mention the
sculptors and the gold and silversmiths, who were clever in working
and smelting gold, and would have astonished the most celebrated of
our Spanish goldsmiths; the number of these were very great and the
most skilful lived at a place called Azcapotzalco, about four leagues
from Mexico.” _Petrus Martyr, Decade VI., Chapter 6_. (A letter
written to Pope Adrian VI.) “The chief noblemen’s houses (in
Nicaragua) compass and inclose the King’s street on every side; in the
middle site whereof one is erected, in which the goldsmiths dwell.
Gold is there molten and forged (?) to be formed into divers jewels,
and is formed into small plates or bars, to be stamped after the
pleasure of its owners and at length is brought into the form and
fashion they desire, and that neatly too.”
Footnote 15:
Lorenzana (Don Franc, Antonia de) Historia de Nueva España, page 378,
Note 2.
Footnote 16:
See _Bernal Diaz_, Chap. 39.
_Petrus Martyr de Angleria_, English edition of Eden, Islands of the
West Indies, page 169: “Circumference of xxviii spans (_spithamarum_
28).”
_Torquemada Mon. Ind._, Lib. IV., Cap. 17.
Three letters, on Cortes’ landing in Yucatan, edited by _Fredric
Muller_, Amsterdam, 1871. (1) Their width being seven spans, (2)
larger than a wagon’s wheel, and made as if beaten out of white iron.
(3) Two wheels, the one of gold and weighing 30,000 castellanos, the
other of silver, weighing 50 mark. These pieces are as large as a
millstone.
Footnote 17:
[Illustration: From Landa.]
_Bernal Diaz, Chap. 92_: “Bronze axes, and copper and tin.” _Petrus
Martyr, Dec. V., Chap. 10_: “Bronze axes and edges, cunningly
tempered.” _Gomara, Chap. 210_: “They also have axes, borers and
chisels of copper mixed with gold, silver or tin.” _Landa Rel. d. l.,
Cosas de Yucatan_, Ed. Brasseur, Paris, 1864, pag. 170, with a cut of
a Yucatecan axe: “They had little axes made of a certain metal, and
shaped as the illustration shows. They fastened them into the top of a
wooden handle, one side serving as a weapon, the other for cutting
wood. They sharpened them by hammering the edge with stones.”
_Torquemada, Mon. Ind., Lib. 13, Cap. 34_: “The carpenters and carvers
worked with copper instruments.” _Herrera, Dec. IV., Lib. 8, Cap. 3_:
“In Honduras (1530) they cleared large mountains, for agricultural
purposes, with axes made of flintstone.”