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“For Whom the Bell Tolls” Mexican Copper Bells from the Templo Mayor Offerings: Analysis of the Production Process and its Cultural Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Niklas Schulze
Niklas Schulze*
Affiliation:
niklasschulze@yahoo.com.mx, UNAM, FFyL-IIA, Enrique Rebsamen 446-8, Col. Narvarte,, Mexico City, 03020, Mexico
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Abstract

The 3389 copper (alloy) bells from offerings included in successive building phases of Late Postclassic Templo Mayor (A.D. 1325 – 1520) of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) are the results of production processes influenced by social, economic, ideological and technological factors. The compositional and morphological variability of the bells in the earlier construction phases of the Templo Mayor suggests the presence of several workshops in or around Tenochtitlan, while the reduction of this spectrum on one bell type made of copper-tin bronze, points towards a standardization of the production process and a decrease in the number of workshops that supplied the Templo Mayor in later phases. The compositional and morphological information, as well as contextual analysis and comparison with other Mexican bells, give insights into the bells' symbolism, the mechanisms used to supply the Templo Mayor with offerings, the organization of metalwork and the rationale behind some of the technological choices of the artisans. The detected changes through time seem to point to important shifts in the social, technological, economic and ideological influences on the choices of the artisans in the latter half of Aztec rule.

Keywords

archaeologyx-ray fluorescencecasting
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1047: Symposium Y – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology VIII , 2007 , 1047-Y02-02
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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