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A handheld XRF study of Late Horizon metal artifacts: implications for technological choices and political intervention in Copiapó, northern Chile

A handheld XRF study of Late Horizon metal artifacts: implications for technological choices and... A sample of 403 Late Horizon (~1400–1530 AD) metal artifacts from Copiapó in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, consisting of at least 14 artifactual categories, were examined by a Niton pXRF analyzer for compositional information. The results revealed patterned use of different alloys in the Copiapó region, including a very strong, region-wide reliance on bronze alloys, with tin being a primary or secondary alloying element. The wide use of a non-local metal (tin) in the Copiapó region is interpreted as the result of the Inca Empire’s political control over indigenous economic productive activities, despite the long distance to the empire’s core area. However, arsenical bronzes featured local artifact typologies in a relatively large quantity during the same period, suggesting that the Incas’ preference for bronzes alloyed with tin should have influenced but not fully changed the indigenous metallurgic traditions. This shows that the Inca state had powerful but not absolute control over metal resources in the Atacama Desert. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Springer Journals

A handheld XRF study of Late Horizon metal artifacts: implications for technological choices and political intervention in Copiapó, northern Chile

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References (81)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Subject
Earth Sciences; Earth Sciences, general; Archaeology; Chemistry/Food Science, general; Geography, general; Life Sciences, general; Anthropology
ISSN
1866-9557
eISSN
1866-9565
DOI
10.1007/s12520-016-0315-2
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

A sample of 403 Late Horizon (~1400–1530 AD) metal artifacts from Copiapó in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, consisting of at least 14 artifactual categories, were examined by a Niton pXRF analyzer for compositional information. The results revealed patterned use of different alloys in the Copiapó region, including a very strong, region-wide reliance on bronze alloys, with tin being a primary or secondary alloying element. The wide use of a non-local metal (tin) in the Copiapó region is interpreted as the result of the Inca Empire’s political control over indigenous economic productive activities, despite the long distance to the empire’s core area. However, arsenical bronzes featured local artifact typologies in a relatively large quantity during the same period, suggesting that the Incas’ preference for bronzes alloyed with tin should have influenced but not fully changed the indigenous metallurgic traditions. This shows that the Inca state had powerful but not absolute control over metal resources in the Atacama Desert.

Journal

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences – Springer Journals

Published: Feb 16, 2016

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